Passiv Laneway
By Envirotecture
This compact granny flat sits atop an elegant garage on a discreet laneway on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. A tightly manipulated building envelope ensured Council compliance on a tight site.
This home and its simple presentation to the street disguise the elegance and comfort that is so often missing in these pieces of gentle densification.
The floating home calls for a simple aesthetic, blank side walls are clad in dark standing seams that match the roof while the more visible long elevations are a blackbutt cladding treated to age over time.
Project Details
The garage below is made from a split face concrete block, both beautiful and practical at the same time. The contrast between the simplicity and heaviness of the base and the floating top works well. This building will definitely settle well into its new home over the first few years.
The industrial checker plate staircase provides for a dramatic entry with sky views before arriving on the shielded entry deck.
The home is the third certified Passivhaus in Sydney. The timber/aluminium windows and door with their double glazing are part of a well-insulated airtight building envelope. The heat recovery ventilation system ensures fresh air 24/7 although the doors can often be found open on a gorgeous autumn day.
Extensive use of timber is both a more sustainable option and comforting in the compact space. The treetop views afforded by the elevated position give this granny flat a sense of space that belies its true size.
At the 2020 Building Designers Association of Australia National Design Awards, PassivLaneway was awarded the Chris Reardon Memorial Award for residential sustainable buildings and the Hyne Timber Industry Partner Award.
Photography by Kayle Barton
Professionals used in
Passiv Laneway
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Envirotecture
About the
Professional
At Envirotecture we design beautiful, sustainable buildings that work for you, your family or your business.
With over 35 years’ experience in sustainable architecture, we can offer you a full range of building design and consulting services to deliver the best possible built outcome for your build.
Facilitate and future-proof your lifestyle with our cost-effective designs that provide stylish design solutions. See our sustainable design portfolio.
We Design for Comfort
Our designs, using state-of-the-art materials and passive design principles, will keep you cool in summer and warm in winter.
We Design for Style
You want you to enjoy spaces that inspire your soul. We will design your building so that it not only works really well, it looks great too!
We Design for Value
We can give you the biggest bang for your buck. Our sustainable designs are an affordable alternative to traditional design and will significantly reduce your long-term operating costs.
We Design for the Environment
When you chose our sustainable architectural solutions your build will have a direct beneficial impact on the environment by helping to:
- protect the ecosystem
- reduce emissions
- improve air and water quality
- conserve water
- reduce waste
- conserve and restore natural resources
We Design for the Future
Our architectural solutions will help create you a responsive, beautiful, energy efficient home that will continue to work for you and your family as your needs changes.
Sustainable design will also optimize the life cycle of your building and increase your property value.
We use the latest technology to ensure clever, creative design solutions that last the distance.
We Design for Business
You want your commercial building to provide environmental, economic and social benefits to your business.
We can design your building to:
- help reduce your operating costs
- improve workplace environment
- optimize the life cycle of your building
- increase your property value
- improve your employee’s attendance and productivity
We Believe in Giving Back
At Envirotecture we always have a pro bono project, or ‘love job’ on the go.
The current Love Job is for the Read Triplets who are wheelchair bound with muscular dystrophy
Previous love jobs include:
- Wakisa Foundation's shelter for homeless pregnant girls in Kampala, Uganda
- the Laotian School project
We Believe in Sustainable Architecture
We have over 35 years’ experience in sustainable design, and our team are all leaders in their fields.
We each bring different skill sets to the business but we all are inspired by sustainable design because we see the difference it makes on so many levels.