Asquith Passive House Journey

Asquith Passive House

We are delighted to share a Passive House project that we will be following closely in the coming months, a family home in the Northern Sydney suburb of Asquith.

The design approach follows the simplicity of Passive House with simple geometry and optimised window openings yet also challenges the conventions of window placement. A south facing rear yard creates a tension between solar access and contemporary lifestyles yet the robust modelling of PHPP allows for confidence that south facing glass can create the connections desired without compromising comfort and performance. A geometric facade emphasises the cubic form while a green roof and climbing landscape soften the home into its surrounds.

This family home is being built for Chris Nunn, Maylynn Nunn, and their three young children. Chris is Head of Sustainability at AMP Capital Real Estate and has been Chair of the Board of the Australian Passive House Association for several years. As a client, Chris has been keen to incorporate sustainability features, chief among which is achieving PassivHaus Certification, but also a green roof, a HEPA filter cassette on the MVHR to catch particulates from bushfire smoke and roof top drenchers to combat ember attack for the next bushfire season, low embodied carbon timber construction including LVL structure and weathertex cladding (composite timber board made from waste sustainable Australian native timber), rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse for landscape irrigation, a beehive and bee friendly plants, lots of food growing planter beds, all electric appliances including a heat pump for hot water and an induction stove, a bench-integrated compost bin, electric vehicle charing point, a novel bike rack system, and of course an enormous photovoltaic system. The build features the CarbonLite PassivHaus Certified modular wall and roof panel system, and a simple built form which we hope will make it more straight forward to achieve the air tightness criteria.

This building is also participating as a Pilot Project for the Green Building Council of Australia's Homes rating. It's the fruition of a lot of dreaming, planning and saving, and it's exciting to share it with you as it becomes a reality.