When Misho Vasiljevich moved from Sydney to Tasmania seven years ago, the decision was the result of firmly held convictions about changes he wanted to make in the way he lived. After 20 years in the harbour city, the move was only partly because he’d had enough of the hustle and bustle of a big metropolis.
“It was about walking the walk, not just talking the talk. It allowed me to live sustainably, which was the way I wanted to live,” says the architect and director of Misho + Associates. And the way Misho himself lives demonstrates how his work helps others have a lighter impact on the planet: he uses a photovoltaic solarpower system (that is also connected to the grid) at his own home, deals with all his sewerage on site and uses only water that he catches off his roof.
Misho, who not only designs residential homes but also commercial projects such as the current Hobart International Airport upgrade, is driven by a passion for sustainable building practices. He is appalled at the wastage that takes place in so many projects.
“I try as much as possible to reduce the need to replace materials,” he says. “We don’t have much material on this earth and we’re using it at a great rate. So for me it’s all about controlling the amount of material that constantly gets replaced. Take a sheet of Gyprock [plasterboard], for instance. Gypsum is getting more and more expensive, it’s getting harder to mine, harder to process, and we’re running out of it.”
Equally important to the way Misho works are ease and speed of building, and using lightweight materials is a key factor in lowering labour costs. “I don’t have patrons, I have clients, and they have budgets,” Misho says with a matter-of-fact tone. “Our industry is synonymous with blowing budgets, but it comes down to ‘buildability’ and the notion of putting something in place as quickly and efficiently as possible to reduce the amount of time and labour on site.”
Project 1: Mount Tamborine residence, Queensland (1990)
This home, overlooking the beautiful Lost World Valley in the Gold Coast hinterland, was Misho’s first residential project. Built in 1990, its cantilevered design sits on a narrow piece of land and hangs over the edge of an old logging slip. The three-bedroom property uses plenty of timber: in its internal frame, for all the
floors and for the external cladding, which is plywood. The lightweight materials, as well as being sustainable, also reduce the weight of the house on the footings. What’s more, wind generators and photovoltaic cells on the roof mean most of the home’s power and heating are sourced naturally, and the home also boasts solar hot-water.
Project 2: Coalcliff residence, NSW (2001)
More than 10 years after he designed the Mount Tamborine house, Misho was able to further refine his practices with a two-bedroom home in Coalcliff, south of Sydney. Working to a tight budget of around $250,000 (in 2001), he devised plans that managed to gain council approval despite three previous architects
failing in that process. As with the Mount Tamborine home, Misho used lightweight materials in the form of plywood and timber, with foam board on the underside of the house to act as insulation. A glazed corridor and balcony on the northern side maximizes sun penetration and natural warmth, while corrugated metal cladding on the opposite side protects the house from the driving rain caused by frequent southerly storm fronts.
Project 3: Huon Box residence, Tasmania (2009) (Misho’s own residence)
Located in Huonville, in Tasmania’s Huon Valley, Misho’s home is a shrine to the potential of lightweight living and compact building. Seeking inspiration for his design, Misho turned to disaster housing, homes that can be erected rapidly and clad with whatever materials come to hand. With this in mind, his brief was fairly straightforward: living in one room would be preferable to multiple rooms, and the building should be able to be completely recycled and have no lasting impact on the site.
Despite Tasmania’s challenging climate, it should also be simple to heat and cool and have low maintenance and ongoing costs. Energy was a key factor in both the design and build, with all materials chosen for their low embodied energy, and ceilings, walls and floors packed with R7 insulation to shield the home from sub-zero temperatures. Cross-ventilation was used to aid cooling while solar energy, both passive and photovoltaic, and vast rainwater tanks, were key sustainability features.
This article was originally published on Light Home website, which is sponsored by the lightweight materials range Scyon™ . The site is set up as an informative hub on green building and sustainable architecture for designers, builders and consumers.
