The development of Pepper Tree Passive Dwelling by Alexander Symes Architect commenced various decades ago in collaboration with builder and consumer Adam Souter of Souter Crafted, who life on the residence with lover Ame Rooke-Jones, and their 3 youthful youngsters.
The family’s Wollongong home was tired and thermally inefficient, but functionally suitable. As a substitute of paying their spending budget on considerable updates to the present dwelling, they decided to establish a new, separate framework on the rear of the web site to a Passive Dwelling normal.
‘This meant they would get the finest amenity worth for their price range with small effectiveness primarily based upgrades to the current home like new insulation, cladding, repainting the concrete tiles a lighter colour to minimize warmth gain, and a 12kW solar panel awning that presents shade to the outdoor areas in summer months,’ states Alexander Symes, director of Alexander Symes Architect.
Following the first notion was made, Adam began salvaging and storing landfill-certain resources from his other development tasks to eventually use in his home.
The resulting secondary dwelling can take the sort of an elevated U-shaped creating wrapping close to an existing 60-yr-old tree.
‘We determined at our initial meeting that the pepper tree was part of the core id of the internet site and holding it would be a terrific gain to the last result, fairly than just a different box-shaped granny flat,’ claims Alexander.
Two cantilevered wings are clad with recycled shou sugi ban cladding, and each individual host a eco-friendly roof blending the setting up into the landscape.
Adam’s salvaged design materials were being used all through the job, which includes on the external staircase crafted making use of the roof structure of a demolished Bondi home, contributing to its sustainable Passive Household conventional.
The completed self-contained home incorporates a single bed room, a kitchen, residing location, bathroom, and a laundry across 60 square metres internally. The constructing functions as an office for Adam’s expanding enterprise, which can alternatively be rented as quick remain lodging.
In developing a secondary construction, Alexander Symes Architect have included a great deal required usable flooring house to a suburban internet site with out overdeveloping or sacrificing its biophilic link. This technique offers a precedent for producing modest, future proofed additions with out the enormous value of upgrading all current dwellings.