Sapling by Anderson Architecture has been recognised at the Sustainability Awards 2024with a highly commended mention in the Single Dwelling (New) category.

The team sits down with Architecture & Design’s Digital Editor ClĂ©mence Carayol to discuss this prestigious accolade.

Architecture & Design: Why do you think you were honoured for your entry? 

Anderson Architecture: Sapling directly addresses multiple facets of sustainability, from its use of renewable and recyclable construction materials, to its carbon negative status in terms of both embodied and operative carbon. Sapling actively maintains a healthy indoor environment for its occupants through its use of low and no VOC materials and finishes and supply of fresh, tempered and filtered air via the home's heat recovery ventilation system.

The home combines passive design strategies with sophisticated physics-based modelling and has been awarded the prestigious Passivhaus Premium certification, achieving a high level of sustainability and resilience in the face of a changing climate and ensuring the health and comfort of its occupants for years to come.  

What did your entry add to the body of knowledge of sustainable design? 

Sapling demonstrates that Passivhaus is compatible with both the Sydney climate and the quintessential indoor-outdoor Australian lifestyle. Through its design, active engagement with the outdoors is encouraged, while the home's Passivhaus Premium certification ensures that when conditions necessitate the closing up of the home, indoor environmental quality is of a high standard and conditions remain comfortable and stable.

Sapling also serves as a case study in embodied energy, demonstrating that carbon negative housing is more than possible. This is particularly timely- consideration of the embodied carbon of buildings is of the utmost importance as operative carbon is negated through onsite energy generation and storage and the electricity grid becomes greener. Sapling also demonstrates the versatility of Passivhaus in terms of architectural design, and how effectively it can be integrated with other sustainable systems and design strategies.

Has your entry influenced the way you will design buildings in the future? 

The lessons learnt from Sapling have already informed other projects within our firm, including the ways by which we detail to minimise thermal bridging, the selection of materials and systems for thermal performance and reduced energy demand, the reinforcement of the importance of passive design and the selection of materials and finishes for environmental and occupant health and wellbeing. 

This category is sponsored by Billi.

Image: Sapling/Anderson Architecture