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When it came to building their first environmental house, what this Perth couple lacked in dollars and

experience they made up for in commitment.

First time

LuckyWords Gina Morris PhotograPhy TiM silberT

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Jutting out dramatically on a suburban street of 1960s fibro and brick worker cottages in the Perth Hills is Simon and Amy’s striking, angular and partially self-built eco home. So blatantly green and healthy, one of the neighbours calls it “The Mung Bean House”, and since the very first day of construction, when its four monolithic rammed recycled concrete walls stuck out of the ground like Stonehenge, it has captivated the community. The project was a creative and passionate feat, not just for the owners, who sought to prove you could build a solar passive house on a modest budget, but for the builders and the designers, Paradigm Architects. As co-owner Amy explains: “We touted our concept around and had a lot of doors shut on us, but Paradigm were interested in the challenge and were very enterprising in their ideas”. Paradigm’s director Fiona Hogg and project architect Chantelle Beckett devised an “honest” house, utilising largely recycled components and salvaged demolition materials. Taking eighteen months and costing $275,000 for the 160 square-metre, two-bedroom single storey, its site specific design relied on detailed analysis and localised climate mapping to ensure maximum passive thermal performance and natural ventilation. “Our brief was to design the bones of a solar passive house that could be technologically improved as and when technology advanced and the clients could afford it,” says Chantelle. “It was always intended to be a collaborative process. It’s true to our design but so much of them went into it. They were unbelievably committed. They have such an intimate understanding of what this house can actually achieve; they treat it like a living thing, which is how it should be.” As first time homeowners who had never even renovated before, overseeing and physically contributing to the construction of an entirely new building was a brave venture. Although there were times they worried it may have been a “crazy idea”, the end result is an emphatic success. Viewed from the front, the painstakingly restored jarrah windows, positioned like picture frames, add an eclectic element and respond to the rhythm of the neighbouring properties. A more modern and theatrical aesthetic is revealed on the north-facing rear. The sharply angled roof is designed to catch or exclude the sun according to

season and to drain all of the rain water into a 10,000 litre tank, plumbed to all taps but one to provide 80 per cent of household usage. A locally made three-stage plumbing system, which treats all the household waste water, including the toilet, is used for irrigation, covering 150 square metres of vegetation. The end result: last year Simon and Amy’s water bill totalled $28. High-efficiency lighting and appliances, and a 250 litre Apricus evacuated tube solar hot water system also ensures the whole house runs on just 6kWh of electricity per day. Inside the house, the rammed recycled concrete walls are the main attraction, acting both as thermal mass and as stunning features. These form the intimate core of the house. Tactile, stylish, earthy and practical, they glow in the winter sun, soaking up the heat like enormous radiators. In summer they’re shaded, absorbing the warmth instead. The couple admit they spent an “inordinate amount of time” researching every single product that went into the house, from the flooring to the paint on the walls. For their single active heating system they chose a slow-combustion wood heater, fitted with a heat exchange system to transfer warm air from the lounge into the bedrooms when needed. Although Amy studied sustainable development at university and hails from “hippy parents” who self-built three houses, the desire for a low cost, environmentally focused, solar passive home didn’t stem from a notion to be ultra green. “Simon and I are both very practical people and we are both trained economists,” she explains. “I work in treasury and I’m very conscious of utility price rises and the scarcity of resources, so it was very obvious to me to invest in a house that used as little energy and water as possible.” With Simon focusing on the build and scheduling and Amy taking on the budget and aesthetics, they found harmony amid the stress. Now, living in their dream home, Amy says “we do feel pretty proud of ourselves”. For project architect Chantelle, the success of the house owes much to the great attitude of the owners, and to its honesty. As she surmises: “There are houses which are specifically designed to express their sustainability and they can come across as over the top, but this house doesn’t. It is what it is and it’s just so simple and so beautiful. I just wish it was mine!”

GThe home’s southern aspect wraps around bedrooms and a guest lounge (living spaces are to the north) and presents an unassuming face to the street.

LThe rammed recycled concrete aggregate wall flanks the passageway to the study. rammed earth and concrete aggregate walls are generally made in situ and are infinitely customisable, with colour and texture able to be controlled during the ramming process and features such as niches, stencilling and embedded stones able to be added.

“The owners have such an intimate understanding of what this house can actually achieve; they treat it like a living thing, which is how it should be.”

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LThe rammed recycled concrete wall in the kitchen is illuminated by a brilliant band of early autumn light via high-level clerestory windows. The floor is finished in australian hoop pine ply.

“I’m very conscious of utility price rises and the scarcity of resources, so it was very obvious to me to invest in a house that used as little energy and water as possible.”

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GRoUND flooR plAN01 Deck02 rainwater Tank03 bathroom04 living room05 Dining room06 laundry07 Kitchen08 entry09 study10 bedroom 111 bedroom 212 Guest lounge

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sustainable Features

Hot water

250L 22-tube Apricus evacuated tube solar hot water

with Bosch instantaneous booster (LPG).

www.apricus.com.au

Renewable energy

Roof designed to take future PVs

Water saving

– 10,000L rainwater tank – plumbed to all taps except

one. Mains back up. Tank provides up to 80% of

household use: current mains water use is 7% of local

average

– Western Australia manufactured Aquarius O-3

ATU anaerobic waste water recycling system

(www.westernwastewater.com.au). Treated water

discharged to garden by subsurface irrigation.

Supplement irrigation by bore if needed

– All overflow stormwater contained onsite and

distributed to soak wells

– Water saving taps – Novelli lever mixer taps with

aerators, 7.5L/min shower head

– Caroma Smartflush toilet

– Plumbing by Enviroplumb WA

Passive heating & cooling

– Orientated and zoned for maximum northern

exposure and capturing of prevailing breezes

– Rammed recycled concrete aggregate walls that run

down the east-west spine of the building, helping to

direct traffic as well as cooling breezes. Central

clerestory windows allow solar capture in the spine

wall in winter

– Concrete slab floor for additional thermal mass

– Overhang and eaves combined with floor-to-ceiling

windows and clerestory windows to north control

solar access

– Insulation: glass fibre for ceiling batts, R2 external

and internal walls with Pink SonoBatts in places for

noise insulation. Under-floor: R2 polyester (chosen

for its moisture resistance)

Active heating & cooling

– Clean Air HD series slow-combustion wood heater

using waste timber

www.cleanairwoodheaters.com.au

– Warm air from living room is ducted to bedrooms via

operable ceiling vents

– Low ceilings allow active heating to work more

effectively

– Mercator ceiling fans

Building materials

– Rammed recycled concrete aggregate walls by Perth

Stabilised Earth (ph 08 9335 5440)

– Concrete slab

– BlueScope Custom Orb: Colorbond and Zincalume

– Internal floors finished in Australian hoop pine ply

Windows & glazing

– Benchmark series glazed doors and windows by

Jason Windows (www.jaswin.com.au): powder

coated, single glazed with grey tint

– Rear windows aluminium framed; street-facing

bedroom windows framed with recycled jarrah

– Window treatments: Luxaflex Duette Architella

Shades. Thermally insulating blinds with honeycomb

construction. Fixed to ceiling to give similar

performance to pelmet

Lighting

Compact fluorescents, T4/T5 ring fluoros, CFL and

LED down lights

Paints, finishes & floor coverings

– Polished concrete and plywood floors

– Wattyl id range low-VOC paints

– Volvox clay paint to living room (not used

throughout as difficult finding paint trades who

were happy to use!)

Garden & Waste Minimisation

– Garden will be natives to front and verge, grass to

rear for sub-irrigation and dog, vegetable garden to

rear

– Recycled sleepers to pathway, recycled brick paving

– All topsoil re-established on site and rocks dug out

for footings used in landscaping and retaining

– Recycled sand used in site works

– All scrap steel, aluminium, cardboard and plastics

recycled

DesignerParadigm Architects—Websitewww.paradigmarchitects.com.au—BuilderOwner-builder—Project typeNew building—Project location Perth Hills, WA—Cost$275,000—Size160sqm

perth hills Residence