Church Square 10 Star Superhomes

Project Description

10 Star Superhomes Situated in historic Church Square, Addington two distinctly different homes replacing an earthquake damaged cottage in 2015 were both the first to be designed and built to 10 Homestar and also signalled the start of the Superhome Movement. They formed part of a vision for demonstrating healthier homes and more sustainable ideals for an energy efficient, low carbon future. Initially both were made available to the public as demonstration homes and feature on the first Superhome Movement exemplar home tours. The aim was to demonstrate that smarter designed and better built, affordable, warm comfortable healthy homes, were easily achievable using better techniques and commonly available materials. The idea has been to create awareness by providing open source sharing of design, technology and information for public and the industry on how best to build compact space efficient, for the mass market that provide the best possible value in terms of affordability and ongoing cost of ownership and ROI. First principles were designing and building only space that is used every day, spatially aware with efficient use of space and no waste space. Size efficient homes mean less materials hence less upfront capital cost combined with lower ongoing running cost due to less space to heat and also less maintenance costs. There are over 30 innovations that are not common in typical NZ homes. The two storey 140m2 dwelling has an efficient form which reduces heat loss, with three bedrooms, two high standard bathrooms and a spacious kitchen with a decent size walk in pantry. A separate laundry and toilet on the ground floor lead to a carport via the back door. A concealed storage cupboard under the stair houses the large hot water cylinder that acts as a heat sink and the Solar PV inverter and batteries. There is no passageway and an enlarged landing at the top of the stair provides for a home office space as well as circulation to the three bedrooms and bathroom. The single storey home utilises material selections and form referencing the entrance of the Lychgate to the church in the centre of the square. This gives a nod to the heritage of the site, whilst avoiding appearing pastiche. Both the church gate and entrance fascade of the home feature a stone wainscot and treatment comprising natural timber and roof shingles. This North facing, single storey home has a classic Cantabrian aesthetic and is designed to allow great sun access for both itself and the two storey dwelling to the south of the site. Optimum solar gain and quality of light is achieved with zero south glazing and large openings orientated to the North and East with french doors open onto a courtyard with an edible garden to the West. The low ceiling bulk head in the kitchen is contrasted by the raised ceiling height to the living area, to achieve a feeling of spaciousness and again, enhance the light and sun access in this surprisingly compact 117m2 footprint. To the North-West there is a multi-functional room with full height asymmetrical doors that offers great connection to the open plan living/dining/kitchen area and external doors to the deck. The home has a functional and accessible design to a 5 star Lifemark rating to ensure adaptability and ease-of-use. The Master bedroom has a large ensuite, good storage and access to a small balcony. An example of an appealing, sympathetic response to the picturesque and historic Church Square environment. Designed to provide the best possible living experience, incredibly practical, and delightful in a compact footprint (140m2) fitting a small 285m2 site. A model home to provide a new standard and demonstrate mainstream homes of this size and budget should have benefit from good appealing design, not just bigger high-end homes. Natural materials are environmentally certified to achieve the 10 homestar rating. Black and white are interchanged to cleverly create the illusion that the home is much bigger. Colours are: Resene black white and Resene double foundry. A light oak timber floor and black tiles echo the black aluminium cladding and whitewashed larch weatherboards. Bathrooms use Laminam large format ceramic instead of tiles, colours are travertine and corten steel. Efficient tapware is Methven Kiri and Aio. Kitchen top is Caesar Stone Ice and cabinets Charred Oak meltica. Feature architectural wallpapers are from Resene. The dining table replaces the ubiquitos island bench which effectively saves the space of dining in the living area. The bottom three stair treads have been turned into drawers for footlockers. GIBFIX framing system 140mm LVL R4.0 exterior wall Super Insulated R10 ceiling European PVC Windows R0.7 (Recessed) Super slab fully insulated (R3.66) Super-efficient in-slab heating, dual heat ecomaster system PV Solar system 4.1Kw/ 4.5Kw salt water batteries Solar wall & Heat exchange fresh air ventilation Rainwater & Grey water system Energy recovery waste drains Water efficient tapwares & fittings Lifemark 5* accessibility/adaptability ease of use LED lighting full height doors