Austinmer Beach House

The brief was to design a family home that simultaneously connected with the surrounding coastal and Illawarra escarpment. The dwelling includes world leading sustainability initiatives such as; an electronic home user guide (hug) to assist the family with operating their home; recycled and low environmental impact materials; high performance thermal envelope including high transparency glass to appreciate the amazing surrounding views; a passive thermal comfort strategy to avoid the need for air-conditioning; solar hot water heating and electricity generation to make the dwelling energy positive (produces more energy than it uses) which is then exported back to the grid; ecological learning devices for children such as the water cycle and indigenous landscape. The project was designed in collaboration with Furio Valich of g+v architecture.