Curtain Cottage in Carlton North, Australia by Apparte Studio

Article source: Apparte Studio

Passive energy design

The narrow house faces north and the front living area becomes flooded with sunlight, penetrating deep into the hallway.

The raised cathedral ceiling draws up much of the hot air during occasional hot summer periods, leaving the lower areas of the house cooler.

The existing house had good thermal properties to begin with. Most of both party walls are shared with a neighbour and there is good cross-flow ventilation to release heat when the front and rear doors are opened.

The large skylight over the dining area to the south saves hours of artificial lighting each day.

Image Courtesy © Christopher Alexander

• Architects: Apparte Studio
• Project: Curtain Cottage
• Location: Carlton North, Australia
• Photography: Daniel Aulsebrook, Christopher Alexander
  
• Software used: Vectorworks, SketchUp
• Site Area: 95m2
  
• Floor Area: 60m2
  
• Construction time: June 2012 – March 2017
  

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Flooring

New 14mm thick, 135mm wide solid blackbutt flooring on 19mm chipboard substrate to bedroom, hall and front room.

The back half of the house was tiled. We built up the floor on top to utilise the existing thermal mass this old floor had and added cement floor leveller, plywood and blackbutt boards.

Blackbutt was finished with 2 coats of low VOC OSMO 3501 white stain and 2 coats of OSMO Polyx wood wax oil.

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Decking

135mm x 19mm Spotted gum on Surefoot footing system.

Surefoot steel footings were chosen because they have the least impact on the ground and surrounding neighbours compared to conventional systems like concrete and stumps. It also worked out to be a lot cheaper, easier and quicker to install.

Image Courtesy © Christopher Alexander

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Insulation

Bradford Polymax R2.5 Polyester Batts pressed between original hardwood rafters.

Glazing

Skylight over dining area is 16mm multi-cell polycarbonate. Helps to save hours of artificial lighting each day. Supplied by Danpalon using their Solarspace roof system.

Existing steel doors to courtyard was upgraded with 6.38mm laminated safety glass.

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Heating and cooling

Hydronic heating throughout powered by a Bosch instantaneous split-system hot water unit. Long and slim panels were chosen to complement the narrow spaces.

No artificial cooling was installed because the house can be passively cooled during very hot periods.

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Walls

Existing brick walls were damp-proofed by injecting a fluid into the lowest course every 120mm.

Water Tank

Rainwater from the roof is collected in a Colorbond water tank for use on the vertical herb garden and pot plants.

Lighting

LED lights are fitted throughout. This includes strips atop the exposed ceiling joists, over the bedroom and inside the custom linear pendants.

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Christopher Alexander

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Daniel Aulsebrook

Image Courtesy © Christopher Alexander

Otto Henkell, Image Courtesy © Apparte Studio

Image Courtesy © Apparte Studio

Image Courtesy © Apparte Studio

Image Courtesy © Apparte Studio

Image Courtesy © Apparte Studio

Tags: Australia, Carlton North

Categories: House, Residential, SketchUp, Vectorworks

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