Old-new home: Hill End Ecohouse in Brisbane

A drop down blind to the terrace provides shading from the morning sun whilst the north street-facing balcony is sheltered by a vegetated trellis made using recycled timber from the original site. The landscaping features woodchips from removed trees and gravel crushed from original concrete slabs.

Outside, the building and windows have light coloured finishes to increase the reflection of daylight. Awnings provide protection from the sun and rain. The spacious bedroom and living areas open onto outdoor spaces with lush plantings.

60,000L of rainwater storage supplies the whole house and garden. House rainwater is pre-filtered, heated by solar panels and stored in an insulated tank. To reduce water waste, a hot water recirculation unit reheats cold water and greywater is treated and recycled on site.

With a 6-star energy efficiency rating, the house has recycled polyester bulk insulation and timber frames to reduce heat transfer. Heating is provided by solar gain captured by the light, polished concrete floors and well-insulated walls. An efficient gas fire provides winter heating to the southern living space, where solar heating is not possible.

“We were dedicated to creating the greenest home possible without compromising style. The idea of deconstructing a previous property to create something new was really exciting to us. We are pleased with how the house manages to fuse beauty with eco facilities.”

The Hill End Ecohouse is fully self sufficient in both water and power and has a monitoring system to measure the use of energy, gas and water as well as temperature and humidity. This system also provides a carbon footprint for the house. The north-facing roof has 3kW photovoltaic panels which generate 15kWh/day, ample energy for household requirements.

The Ecohouse, which holds a 6-star energy efficiency rating, was designed by Riddel Architecture and executed in collaboration with Robert Peagram Builders. Recycled materials were carefully detailed to become design features throughout the home.

Situated in Hill End, inner Brisbane, Australia, the Hill End Ecohouse was built from recycled materials, using 95% of the salvaged material from the 19th Century house that originally occupied its narrow riverfront site. A painstaking deconstruction process resulted in just two small skips of non-reusable materials being discarded.