Many Ways To Capture The Sun
The Age
Saturday June 2, 2001
PERVERSELY, it sometimes happens that after months of searching for the ``ideal" house, it suddenly turns up, begging to be renovated. The price is right, the area is right, even the neighbors look nice but alas it is back-to-front. The northern sun and light is at the front and the back garden faces the chilly, shady south.
Faced with such a situation, buyers usually resume hunting, but today, architects such as Archicentre's Stephen Davis are well aware of the importance of natural light and passive heating in houses and are adept at finding clever ways to bring sunshine and warmth into the rooms, regardless of which way they face.
Pointing to his renovation proposal for 71 Farm Street, Newport, he says one of his prime considerations was to take account of its south-facing rear aspect.
This single fronted, semi-attached, weatherboard Victorian terrace suffers from the common problems found in houses of its vintage, namely the imbalance between the three nicely proportioned rooms comprising the main body of the house and the inadequate services crammed at the back under a lean-to roof.
In addition, the bathroom and kitchen completely cut the house off from the garden in terms of views and access.
As the house is on quite a generous block, there is plenty of room for Mr Davis to add his huge new pavilion, placed well back from the existing house.
This is important because it not only allows him to join the old and new sections by a largely glazed, wide passage, but also to create an internal timber deck.
By deliberately siting the pavilion in such a way that there is a good-sized gap between the two main structures, he is able to introduce winter sun on to the deck as well as into the new room. By careful calculation, he has also ensured that during summer the room is shaded from the hotter, high-angled sun.
Leaving the front part of the house largely untouched, Mr Davis has pushed the hall through the original kitchen, turning the remainder into a large new bathroom with separate bath and shower as well as a separate toilet and separate laundry, all conveniently clustered in the centre of the house.
As the deck is quite private, Mr Davis advocates a long, clear-glass window in the bathroom with a blind for occasions when visitors are present.
A second good-sized deck, almost the width of the block provides more outdoor living space on the southern side of the family room. Four bi-fold doors open this side on to the deck and, with the French doors on the northern side, provide wonderful cross-ventilation on hot days as well as enticing views through and beyond the room.
Mr Davis is particularly concerned to include plenty of storage in his designs. In this case, there is not only a modern kitchen with oodles of cupboards but also undedicated storage along the west wall and into the gallery link. As there is a side access to the internal deck, he has slipped a garden storage cupboard in there for bins and bicycles.
Finally he adds a new carport at the rear of the property, reached from a right-of-way and screened from the courtyard garden which, although it is not included in the costing, could be paved and include a built-in barbecue to complement the deck area.
Compton & Green (9397 1600) will auction the house at 1pm today, when it is expected to fetch $200,000-plus.
COSTS
Mr Davis' opinion of probable construction costs are:
Demolition $2500
New kitchen, laundry and bathroom $20,000
Family room extension $60,000
Timber deck and steps $2500
Painting $6000
Additional ducted heating $2000
Total $93,000
Archicentre (9819 4577), the housing division of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, offers fixed-price renovation reports by selected architects as well as pre-purchase house inspections.
www.archicentre.com.au
© 2001 The Age