Performance & Sustainability
Like all good beach houses, Marcus Beach House explores lightness, filtering natural breezes and integrating indoor/outdoor spaces.
Small but with delight, M House looks at how a modest renovation can make a positive contribution to the way a family live.
Like a roof on its side, Ashburton House's sawtooth facade is self-shading, blocking summer sun from striking and heating the surface.
Set in a lush tropical rainforest, Planchonella House, is a raw and honest home that takes full advantage of its incredible views.
A new house set in a compact urban site, Woollahra House has a relaxed yet rich garden landscape of indoor and outdoor rooms.
Concrete House features a tapered concrete second story which focuses the view of a garden and the city beyond.
Turning this tight inner-city terrace into a light-filled, open-plan home for a family of five was a challenge. But was it a success?
In Wallaby Lane House, a family seeking a tree change find a new, more self-sufficient way of living. The home makes the most of their rural site.
Substantial alterations to an Arts and Crafts house explores the potential of verandahs and decks to become supplemental living spaces…
Tennis Avenue Residence new timber pavilion, added sensitively to the rear of a humble old cottage feels like living in a modern treehouse.
The compact Highway House takes full advantage of its difficult, but dramatic site — sitting lightly over Hobart and the Derwent River…
Thornbury House might appear haphazardly crooked, but the angled facade doubles as a sunshade. This solar passive home is functional and visually appealing.
Even during the heat of summer this passive solar design remained cool and kept the family comfortable. Reclaimed materials integrates with the original.
Old terrace houses are not the most efficient beasts. But this Darlinghurst terrace renovation proves you can have a terrace and aim for sustainability too.
Salt Creek Rural Retreat is a one bedroom, one bathroom sustainable accommodation. The tiny prefab building enjoys beautiful views over 20 acres.
Southern Highlands House's new tiny work space, feels more like an art piece than an office - well proportioned, beautifully curved and effortlessly simple.
Eco-friendly Bruny Shore House reaches out from one of the steepest parts of the site to take in the dramatic Tasmanian coastline.
The 8.2-Star Energy Rated Leura Lane House is an impressive 2-bedroom prototype for energy efficient housing perfect for rural sites.
A modest, cement clad building sits deep on a north facing bank opening to the landscape and overlooking the valley and ocean below.
Despite only adding six square meters to this home, Welsh and Major's reconfiguration and tiny pavilion have made a dramatic difference.
A project home from the 1970s with poor solar orientation is reconfigured and realigned. Now it catches the sun for energy efficiency.
An inner city Victorian cottage of heritage significance is renovated with contemporary design and sustainable building practices.
A house inspired by 20th Century naval camouflage. There's something you don't hear everyday…
This small house is sustainable, low-maintenance, affordable and it's pre-fab so it arrives (practically) ready to move into.
Looking for a small extension but the expense to outcome ratio is out of whack? The Backyard Room might be just what you need.
A prefab home designed around passive solar design principles is warm, comfortable, energy efficient and looks prefab-ulous.
A modest, energy efficient home in New Zealand's spectacular wine country makes the most of sweeping views…
ArchiBlox' Carbon Positive Prefab House means it's no longer enough to just be carbon neutral, when you can be carbon positive.
A pulley system extending through the atrium of this House Bruce Alexander is designed so the owners can store bicycles and winch them out of view.
Trentham Long House treads the line between old-fashioned simplicity and the conveniences of contemporary life.
In accordance with a local planning law, Arrowtown House is a series of small buildings similar to the the surrounding historic sheds.
Sean Godsell Architects explore the traditional verandah to create a stunning beach home sheltered from the extremes of coastal life.
McKenzie House uses the same 4x3 metre grid of the surrounding Apple Orchard to ensure it feels harmonious and connected to its surrounds.
By replacing space lost to the renovation with a roof deck, Stick House ensures not a millimetre of outdoor space is sacrificed.
An extension made from delicate steel and expansive glass feels like a precious jewel has been hung on the original heritage home.
Hill End Ecohouse in Queensland is a new home constructed almost entirely from the house it replaced and a leader in sustainability…
Located on a windswept coast line, Moonlight Cabin is a place to retreat from and engage with the landscape’s ephemeral conditions.
Thanks to an owner with an interest in sustainable building, Mona Vale House incorporates passive and active sustainability features.
A home on the family property for a retiring couple, Storrs Road House aims to reflect in miniature the site and its history.
Incorporating the qualities of a traditional farmhouse ensures this modern farmhouse will feel like a home from the get-go.
Profile House is an extension that pays homage to the varied buildings in Brunswick East. BLOXAS Architects created an unexpected space inside, and out.
Venus Bay Bach is a beach home built on a tight budget, but spacious enough to house family and friends for the weekend. And it doesn't ignore the views...
Karri Loop House has two irregular-shaped courtyards which are centered around three majestic native Australian trees. This is what happens when trees are given the chance to shine.
Brunswick House is restrained and space-efficient, but surprising spaces like a rooftop terrace provide a new perspective on its eclectic neighborhood.
Coromandel Bach was conceived as a container sitting lightly on the land for habitation. A 'bach' is a New Zealand term for a simple holiday shack.
At first glance it's a typical Victorian-era worker's cottage. Only on closer inspection you realize there's something unusual going on behind that facade...
Mount Ninderry House is a sustainable house that takes full advantage of its stunning natural setting without the extra cost. And check out that pool!
In true glamping style Kurreki Beach Retreat has real beds but opens completely onto a courtyard and uses mosquito nets and shower curtains where necessary.
Bridge House takes full advantage of a naturally stunning site, straddling a creek bed and touching the earth lightly environmentally and physically.
Tucked into a particularly wild and isolated part of Victoria's Central Highlands you'll find this small bush house built with trees found on the site.
Fitzroy Terrace by Welsh & Major Architects works with the exiting layers of history. The house tells the story of its 170 years of occupation...
How exciting to unload an architecturally designed house off a truck, unwrap it (like a giant Christmas gift) and move straight in -- with Happy Haus, you can!
Tucked away in a subdivided backyard in Melbourne's Inner North, Nest Architects created a delightfully compact two-bedroom home with a beautiful sunny garden.
Rather than gutting and starting again, a simple reconfiguration was all it took to make this home brighter and more comfortable.
A sustainable, flexible and contemporary living space grows out of an existing home. It's reverent and cheeky, radical and conservative.
Cranky Corner doesn't sound like the ideal retirement home, but this farmhouse in the Hunter Valley is a comfortable and sustainable place to retire.
On a magnificent, but challenging site, Tinbeerwah House is a beautiful, economical home that sits lightly on the land.
A highly crafted 'pod' extension achieves a level quality and joy in what is essentially a very simple, easy to construct little box.
Named Soe Ker Tie (Butterfly) Houses by the workers on site, these six innovative pavilions provide affordable accomodation for Thai orphans.
Dramatic topography, bush setting and diverse climatic conditions were the driving forces in this environmentally friendly design.
A local shed company prefabricated this home, saving both time and cost. But Whyatt House doesn't look like a typical shed…
This 'Bach' - a New Zealand term for a small holiday shack - is built inside a shipping container. It's a self-contained, portable, and fun retreat for a family of four.
This family know how to save serious Won. They created a modern and bright container home using just three 20' shipping containers. A translucent skin provides extra space at a rock-bottom price...
Just because you live in an affordable, eco-friendly shipping container house doesn't mean all your neighbors need to know about it...
Talk about a constrained site - this light-filled addition is a small inner city block sandwiched between 14 adjacent properties.
The old house faced the wrong way and missed out on natural light. With the help of a clever skylight, this renovation turns things around…
Ilma Grove is an extension to a heritage home in Northcote, Victoria. The extension provides more space and guarantees a sustainable lifestyle.
Hover House by Bower Architecture is built on a disused backyard tennis court in Mt Martha -- a great example of infill housing.
Cubo House is a sustainable home which celebrates its history via restored existing elements and upcycled features using the surrealist technique 'Cubomania'.
A modular home constructed of engineered timber (instead of steel) is the perfect fit for a steel slope in New Zealand's seismic zone.
Hereston Gardenhouse pops up in a disused back yard and demonstrates a way to make cities more dense and (importantly) sustainable.
In a quiet corner of Melbourne's Inner-North, Modscape's modular, pre-fabricated and sustainable Tower House stands out from the crowd.
A grassy green courtyard fit for a cow (ok, not a real cow) at the centre of this renovated St Kilda House adds a bright new focus.
Somers Courtyard House is a low maintenance home to accommodate an expanding family with regular guests. The best part? It's completely off-grid!
Jones House is a home designed for Australian conditions proving architectural ideas can be achieved without big budgets and costly construction methods.
A cleverly designed holiday home enjoys beach views and opens directly to the garden but is screened by a mature Pohutukawa tree.
Embracing the morning sun and bay breezes, Christian Street House is comfortable year-round by making the most of Brisbane's climate.
This innovative prefabricated studio was the first of its kind in New Zealand, and what it lacks in size it makes up for in beauty!
An eclectic couple of homes in Sydney's Marrickville demonstrates a new model for urban consolidation…
In the inner city it's not always wise to rely on an aspect. In the case of Diagonal House it made sense to embrace a sunny northern aspect.
Befitting a regionally based sculptor, Sawmill House is a hand crafted upgrade from his existing rather rustic bohemian abode.
The Barrow extension appears as an arrangement of timber boxes, each independently rotated and subjected to varying amounts of extruding and manipulating forces.
Off form concrete draws on the solidity of an original masonry structure whilst introducing a new materiality at this home in Glebe.
Holly Tree Farm replaces a home which was sadly lost in a fire in style — by reusing salvaged materials and mimicking surrounding buildings.
