A Compact Passive House That Hugs A Pepper Tree

The creation of Pepper Tree Passive Property by Alexander Symes Architect commenced several years ago in collaboration with builder and shopper Adam Souter of Souter Created, who life on the home with partner Ame Rooke-Jones, and their a few young youngsters.

The family’s Wollongong home was weary and thermally inefficient, but functionally adequate. In its place of investing their finances on substantial updates to the existing household, they determined to construct a new, independent construction on the rear of the web page to a Passive Residence normal.

‘This intended they would get the best amenity worth for their funds with small efficiency centered updates to the existing household together with new insulation, cladding, repainting the concrete tiles a lighter color to decrease heat attain, and a 12kW solar panel awning that delivers shade to the out of doors areas in summer time,’ states Alexander Symes, director of Alexander Symes Architect.

After the first notion was formulated, Adam began salvaging and storing landfill-certain components from his other construction initiatives to inevitably use in his house. 

The resulting secondary dwelling can take the sort of an elevated U-shaped setting up wrapping about an current 60-year-outdated tree. 

‘We resolved at our initial assembly that the pepper tree was section of the core id of the web site and trying to keep it would be a good profit to the remaining result, relatively than just another box-formed granny flat,’ suggests Alexander. 

Two cantilevered wings are clad with recycled shou sugi ban cladding, and just about every host a inexperienced roof blending the setting up into the landscape.

Adam’s salvaged building resources had been used all over the project, including on the exterior staircase constructed employing the roof composition of a demolished Bondi home, contributing to its sustainable Passive Household typical. 

The accomplished self-contained dwelling involves 1 bedroom, a kitchen, living space, rest room, and a laundry across 60 sq. metres internally. The building functions as an workplace for Adam’s increasing enterprise, which can alternatively be rented as shorter keep lodging.

In building a secondary structure, Alexander Symes Architect have additional substantially essential usable flooring room to a suburban website with no overdeveloping or sacrificing its biophilic link. This approach presents a precedent for making tiny, upcoming proofed additions devoid of the significant value of upgrading all present dwellings.