Located in Northern New South Wales near the Richmond River in Ballina, a certified ‘classic’ passive house home has been built.
This sub-tropical location, together with the site environs, aspect and typology fused together with a detailed client’s brief and contributed to the final home design. As the client placed accessibility as a high priority, spaces and ideas developed into functional elements that have proven to work well post construction.
The site’s characteristics are defined as an irregular heptagon (boot shaped) appearance entering off a cul-de-sac with a stormwater bio-retention cell in a flood zone that could not be built over or altered.
The building is of timber construction and boldly finished externally. The interior is lowkey and has a more relaxed atmosphere, this home caters to the requirements of a client who likes to entertain and have guests stay.
The bulk insulated timber framed dwelling is the first residential building in Australia to be fully built with structural OSB-3 covered with an adhesive water-resistant airtight barrier, followed by continuous wood fibre insulation. A ventilated cavity exists around the whole building cladding (walls and roofing) which enables the building to use convection to keep the cavity dry.
The home has recently been La Niña stress tested due to the flooding in West Ballina, surviving any negative impacts to the dwelling from flood waters.
The green ratings that were met (or exceeded) included:
It attracted scrutiny by the planners, certifiers and other builders in the area who were keen to learn more about building better
Was tested during the time of flood in early 2022, the site was minimally impacted, and a water mark of the flood height can be found on the edge beam of the northeast façade of the dwelling
It is the first home in the Ballina local government area designed and delivered to certified Passive House Classic standard.
Sponsored by Verosol
