Tree House
Gadigal Country / Forest Lodge, NSW
Tree House gently nestles between a heritage sandstone wall, a park and neighbouring houses. With a character of modern Australian vernacular, use of galvanised steel with recycled hardwood and brick allows the new addition to sit within the adjacent bush regeneration site, while permeable batten fencing and native planting allows biodiversity to filter between the sites. The existing cottage and addition are wrapped in a high performance envelope and the strategic planning arrangement provides more equitable access and a strong connection to landscape - crafting a building which has material longevity and flexibility for future permutations. Through careful design strategies focused on both embodied and operational carbon, the home gives more energy back to the grid, and is calculated to be significantly carbon-negative over its lifetime.
Project Team
Hamish Bresnahan
Alex Symes
Consultants
John Oultram Heritage & Design – Heritage Consultant
Ross Engineers – Structural Engineer
JCO Consultants – Hydraulic Engineer
Quantum Traffic – Traffic Engineers
AHJ – Doors and Windows
Builder
Red Cedar Constructions
Photography
Barton Taylor
Council
City of Sydney Council
Three core principles underlie the design of Tree House: reduced embodied energy by utilising recycled materials and implementing a high performance envelope to make a climate resilient home, material selection and permeability which sensitively respects the neighbouring park and, efficient planning arrangements which improve amenity, landscape connection and provide more equitable access on a tight urban block. Tree House has achieved resilience by balancing connection to landscape and biodiversity, onsite food production, renewable energy production and mixed mode thermal comfort with high performance.
The projects dynamic position between a public park, attached neighbouring dwelling and a heritage contributing sandstone wall became an important catalyst for the plan arrangement and sensitive material selection. The design respectfully softens into to the landscape with recycled hardwood timber and galvanised sheets which reflect the surroundings. The two main front rooms of the cottage were retained and heritage features were reinstated. The degraded rear was deconstructed and the 2 storey addition is separated from the main form with a courtyard, barely peaking about the existing ridge line. Furthermore, the extensive native planting and the open batten fence allows a degree of privacy from the park whilst allowing the site to act as an extension to the landscape.
The position of the main living spaces give access to north-eastern light with large openings out to landscape to capture breezes and increase the connection to the trees. The emphasis on high performance design and robust construction has meant the final building is extremely thermally comfortable throughout the year with little heating and cooling required. This makes the home resilient and durable with longevity to contribute for generations to come.
Tree House operates at 100% electric and is supported by 6.3kW solar system. The use of low embodied materials such as recycled timber cladding, floorboards, door and windows frames, low carbon concrete and reused bricks, coupled with dematerialisation and a high performance building envelope means the project operates at Net Zero in operation (-7560kwh/yr generated) and has 69% less embodied energy (-93,681 kgCO2-e over 55 years) than the Australian new-home benchmark.
