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Catch the Sun for Winter Warmth
Designing your alteration, extension or new home to catch the winter sun means more than warmth.
ResCode, the planning code for housing in Victoria, encourages living areas to be adjacent to private outdoor space facing north because the benefits are enormous. During the winter months the sun moves lower in the north sky. The sun's rays coming through the windows penetrate further into the building, providing warmth and light to
- Reduce energy bills
- Connect the inside of the house with the outside
- Provide a kaleidoscope of colour within the rooms because of the change of light
- Provide a 'moving/living' sky and garden-scape, full of colour essential to psychological and physiological wellbeing
Lienert residence, Yarraville
A design brief that included the request for "not a square box... we want angles." An addition to an existing home in a heritage overlay area.
With some alterations to the existing house, the extension was for dining, living and study rooms, sited to the south side of the block to maximize winter sun. Extended visual sight lines, from the kitchen in the existing house through the new living areas to the outside, have increased the sense of space. Intimacy has been maintained with the pitched ceiling and varying window heights.
Gray Street residence, Yarraville
A two storey extension on a narrow block has a ground floor living area which extends the full width of the block with a main bedroom on the first floor overlooking the rear courtyard.
The house was designed to integrate the additions with the existing and neighbouring homes, while maximising the north facing living areas. Internal walls were angled to give an increased size of the bedroom floor area.
Churchill residence, Yarraville
A project where the house floor plan layout was reversed to maximise sunshine all year round to the living areas. A winter outdoor living area was created at the (north facing) front of the property with a 1.2 metre high open picket fence. It also included the positioning of windows on the east side with focal points in the garden to give a greater sense of space.
For an obligation-free discussion of your needs, please contact us.
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