Updated citation for winning project 2014 NT Architecture Awards. The Australian Institute of Architects Architecture Award for Sustainable Architecture – Desert House

This is the updated citation for above winning project in the NT Architecture Awards. There was a misprint in the Awards magazine.

Desert House

Desert House sits on a small rock ridge looking westward toward the magnificent McDonnell ranges. The site had previously been benched for the construction of a dwelling at the time of an earlier subdivision. The architects chose appropriately to integrate with the existing site profiles and to excavate a small amount in the central courtyard for the management of subsurface water and to encourage cool air.

Sitting the lower entry level into the site provided the cumulative effect of significant thermal mass that was used to temper the air as it was drawn via the stairwell into the upper spaces. Similarly, the recessed central courtyard with rock and moisture infill provides additional cool air drawn by convection through hopper windows at floor level to upper level cross vents.

A fly roof amplifies the sensibility of this project – parasol rooves make sense in a climate consistently loaded by sun. Independent wall insulated wall and ceiling panels (R5.66) assist purposefully in both the retention of heat (for purging) or the ability to keep heat from egressing the building. Roof orientation is well considered and the ability to hold air captive in the ceiling void to be used to reduce internal demand volumes or assist in the convection purge of the space is good practice.

There is a sensible use of low embodied energy materials. The roof framing is thermally broken and is made up of widely spaced hot rolled steel 180 UB rafters with light gauge, cold form purlins with wide spacings. Custom Blueorb roof sheeting is used as it can span further unsupported than standard custom orb and is therefore a more efficient use of material. The roof was specifically engineered to significantly reduce the amount of steel required. All of the steel in the roof is working very hard. Timber was not an option in this environment due to the sun and the ferocious termites. Both the engineer and us believe that this clearly supports a sustainable approach to design by reducing the amount of material required and thus reducing the embodied energy.

Floor heating is reticulated around an 18°C temperature which can be easily raised with instantaneous gas as required in cooler months – the majority of hot water is generated by solar catchment. With a knowledge of the systems and operations that manage this project it is reasonable to expect a reduction of energy requirements by up to 35% depending upon the willingness of clients to accept managed but not controlled environments.

Desert House offers a genuine sensibility to environmental management in this specific climate. Traditional techniques have been assimilated into a contemporary response with a reduction in regional expression.