Sustainable Home: Urban Living Greener
The Storybook House by Folk Architects
Over the years, I have worked on many terrace houses in Sydney, and the brief was always the same: to make it feel bigger, more open and highly functional.
Most of what we can do in terms of architecture is regulated by Council’s guidelines: height, setbacks, floor space ratio, to name just a few, can really limit the possibilities. Don’t get me started on heritage requirements! But as an interior architect working alongside the principal architect, I have always felt like such strict parameters allowed me to be very precise and detailed about the interior spaces, which I loved!
The Storybook House used to be a single fronted Victorian Terrace with your typical terrace floorplan: bedrooms at the front and living at the back.
Folk Architects (together with landscape architects Bush Projects and builder Moon Building Group) have redefined spaces and extended the house within its existing footprint to create a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom family home. Quite amazing for such a narrow site! And it's an amazing example of sustainable home.
Now let’s have a look at what makes it so great.
Floorplans
With most terraces, especially in heritage/conservation areas, the whole front of the house has to be retained, which is great! Firstly from a street landscape point of view. Secondly, it creates a very nice experience as you walk into the old and make you way to the new.
My guess is: the living areas use to be narrower with an open “side walkway”. As a consequence, they were allowed to go full width but kept the little courtyard for building articulation. The courtyard brings light to the bedroom, and natural light & ventilation to the bathroom.
I like how the furniture/joinery/stairs are integrated into each other. It makes the space feel a lot bigger. It’s not common to see the kitchen closer to the courtyard as people usually prefer to have the living room closer to the outdoor space. On the other hand, here, the living room is in the darker spot to watch TV, while the kitchen is closer to bright natural lighting for cooking. As a result, less energy is consumed by turning lights on.
Now, the attic space is quite cool! A full parental suite with its own private outdoor area. Quite fancy for city living! Although to be honest, I am not a big fan of sliding doors as I don’t believe they offer great acoustic privacy. They are also not as practical to use as hinged ones.
Colour Palette and Materials
I absolutely love the American oak joinery. The colour is warm but the lack of handles and the detailing give it a modern minimal look.
The timber joinery along with concrete floor, stone bench tops, ceramic tiles and exposed timber beams are all natural materials that make the living areas feel so grounded and connected to the outside world. There is a great combination of retro and modern elements that makes the house timeless.
The bathrooms have even more of a retro feel with the terrazzo (which has made a big comeback in 2019), the steel doors and antic brass tapware. Upstairs, the pink bathroom has also been trending lately and is going to be big in 2020.
What makes it a Sustainable Home?
Passive energy:
· Every room has natural light and air.
· Multiple skylights are great to get direct sunlight and warm up rooms.
· There is no air-con as the design allows for passive ventilation.
· The white roof and terracotta reduce the urban heat and heat transfer internally.
· A water tank collects rainwater for the wc and garden while the solar panels on the roof produce energy for the house.
Materials:
· Concrete floor and terracotta tiles improve thermal mass and reduce heat transfer.
· Upstairs carpet is 70% goat hair.
· Paints are low VOC.
· Tadelakt (a natural lime cased waterproof render) is used in the bathrooms.
As green as we would like to be, we can’t just leave it all behind and go live in the countryside. Our lives might requires us to live in or near the city. This sustainable home is a great example of how we can make the most of urban living, not only by reducing our footprint but by integrating smart, eco-conscious design principles and ideas to create a sustainable home and a better way of living.
Make sure to check out The 5 first (easy) Steps to a More Eco-Conscious Home!
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Photography: Tom Blachford