Industry Award Winning Projects > 2009 > Mt Holdsworth House

In the rain shadow of the Tararuas, on an elevated site looking to the northeast, the site is 750m from the road and surrounded by four mixed land-use farming properties.

Because of cost in bringing in mains electricity, an early decision was made to use the sun to power the house and an informed sustainable approach was then made for the whole project, with subsequent decisions on water supply, hot water heating, space heating, waste treatment, solar control, insulation, ventilation and selections of appliances, fixtures and fittings made on this basis. Consequently the house maximizes its orientation to the winter sun and is sited to be well-protected from cold southerly winds. The hot summer sun can be moderated by the use of external sliding screens and these perforated screens also protect the house interior when unoccupied and the windows from native bird strike.

The simply-formed, individually clad “boxes” congregate around a combined core of cooking, eating and living space.

The house is constructed of materials selected for their combination of durability and texture as well as their contribution to a more sustainable building. Materials include double-glazed aluminium joinery, perforated aluminium sliding screens, oil-stained weatherboard and battened plywood, zincalume roofing, cement plastered blockwork, FSC certified hardwood decking, plantation grown interior timber flooring and plywood ceilings and salvaged native timbers for benchtops.

Free standing solar generates 1.5kw power which is stored in a state-of-art battery bank with bottled gas the only imported energy backup source.

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