Breuer House

After spending 15 years living in this house before renovating, our clients sought to retain the modest suburban brick home, turning it into a passive solar house and breathing new life into its series of chopped up rooms, which were dysfunctional, dark and cold.

| 180m2
Forestville, NSW
Private Client | Completed 2013

Breuer House seen through gum trees
Breuer House interior
Breuer House interior with ribbed ceiling detail
Breuer House, Forestville

“I just wanted to say how happy we are about the house, your design is really beautiful and I’m so excited about it. You are so gifted and I keep pinching myself that it’s all really happening! I really wish my mother and father were around to see it. We first came to see you when we hadn’t even sold my family home and it was incredibly painful even thinking of losing it after just losing my father as well, so I wanted to have something else to take us in another direction away from all that was going on there.
The people that bought my family home have changed the house incredibly, pulling it apart and yes they have rendered it and destroyed a lot of my mother’s garden (a 60 year old camellia was pulled out ). Watching our own house grow and change over these last months has really counteracted this and I will be so proud to have my family there.

I love the fact that you can see the trees in the park from our house now, that your design really interacts with those trees. When my father bought the land for his home, the council asked all the land owners in that area to gift a parcel of land towards creating the reserve / park. Those trees were there when I played there as a child and my own children played there too. There is a story in everyone’s home I’m sure but I’m grateful for your gift in allowing our house’s story to turn a new page. Thank you.”

– Belinda, owner

Approach

Our clients shared their love of Mid-century Modernism and so we sought to create functional and beautiful rooms, modest in size while feeling spacious and connected to the outdoors.

These principles were translated into relevant contemporary solutions that:

  • Responded to the adjacent bushland reserve with its forest of mature gum trees;
  • Addressed environmental sustainability through passive solar design; and
  • Met the client’s goal to be as green as possible.

Process

Prior to engaging us, the clients had discussed plans for a renovation with a draftsman, but they were concerned that his first proposal failed to adequately harness all of the qualities of the site.

Our challenge, then, was to create a design solution that captured the east-facing views across the adjacent reserve and which incorporated passive solar principles, to increase year-round comfort while reducing the overall environmental impact.

We achieved this by reorienting and reconfiguring the existing rooms, adding a new double-height volume at the rear that steps down the slope and brings northern light into the main living spaces via clerestory windows.

The new building fabric is predominantly lightweight but thermal mass was incorporated both in the slab and the south wall. Sustainable materials – such as timber from certified and local sources – were chosen for their ease of construction and aesthetic appearance.

The outdoor areas function as specific microclimates: the new courtyard is warm and protected from winds in winter, while the south deck is cool and shaded in summer.

Results

Budget was an important consideration, so our primary concern was to design and deliver a small house to reduce resource use and site disturbance.

Through careful and strategic design, intelligent space planning and a rigorous process we produced a relatively compact footprint for a family of five – at 180 sqm it is roughly 30% smaller than the average Australian house – to reduce construction costs by about 30%, compared to a typical architect-designed home.

Integrating passive solar design means the house is affordable to run year-round. Cross ventilation is achieved for all the living areas with openings that can be left open at night to flush the building.

This delivers ongoing cost savings by reducing electricity consumption by 30% across the year, despite a 35% increase to the total area. The house has been put to the test during 45-degree days and the spaces remain comfortable without air conditioning.

The roof form was designed to accommodate solar panels that would have sufficient north exposure with minimal overshadowing from the neighbouring trees. The roof form also incorporates north-facing clerestory windows that flood the new living space at the rear with natural light.

This solar passive house includes plenty of storage, large and small volumes that evoke different moods and are suited to different functions, and spaces that flow from one area to the next and then outwards to the treetops and the sky.

The result is a home of small footprint but generous proportions and high environmental performance, where every room has an outlook to the tree canopy.

Publications

Collaborators

Oscar Prieckaerts | Joinery

Professor Max Irvine | Engineer

Brett Boardman | Photography