Mount St Thomas Knockdown Rebuild: A High-Performance Home Built Around What Matters
For some clients, energy efficiency is one item on a long wish list. For this Mount St Thomas family, it was the starting point for almost every decision. But sustainability wasn’t the whole story. They also wanted a home with personality, family history and materials that meant something to them.
Client's Journey:
The clients were a couple with two primary-school-aged boys who wanted to replace their existing home with something far more efficient, comfortable and sustainable. Their ambition was clear: create the most energy-efficient home they could reasonably achieve, using passive-house principles to get as close to that standard as possible, without pursuing full certification.
Mount St Thomas is an established area, and the property sits near the crest of a hill. That position created opportunities for outlook and natural light, so the home’s orientation and window placement were carefully considered during design. The clients spent considerable time thinking about how each part of the home would sit on the site and where views could be captured.
That early design work mattered because the energy goals and the architectural vision had to work together, not compete. The home included cantilevered sections and balconies, and every change in form creates additional junctions that need to be considered and sealed correctly.
Mount St Thomas is an established area, and the property sits near the crest of a hill. That position created opportunities for outlook and natural light, so the home’s orientation and window placement were carefully considered during design. The clients spent considerable time thinking about how each part of the home would sit on the site and where views could be captured.
That early design work mattered because the energy goals and the architectural vision had to work together, not compete. The home included cantilevered sections and balconies, and every change in form creates additional junctions that need to be considered and sealed correctly.
Impressive Project:
The project involved demolishing the existing home and building a completely new custom home in its place. Rather than simply adding solar panels at the end, energy performance was embedded in the design from day one. We put serious effort into sealing the building envelope properly before the external cladding and internal linings went on. The building envelope was then tested using a blower door test to verify performance, not guess at it. Areas needing additional sealing were corrected before the build continued.
What makes this project particularly memorable is that the technical performance never overtook the human side of the home.
What makes this project particularly memorable is that the technical performance never overtook the human side of the home.
Some key improvements included:
- A carefully sealed building envelope with detailed membrane and junction work throughout
- Blower door testing to identify and address air leakage points during construction
- A mechanical ventilation system for controlled air movement through the building
- A substantial solar system to reduce ongoing energy requirements
- Cantilevered sections and balconies creating architectural interest
- A full-height timber-look plywood feature wall in the living area with large floor-to-ceiling sliding doors
- Polished concrete floors as part of the home's material palette
- Breezeway blocks introducing distinctive architectural elements externally
- Timber-look aluminium features incorporated externally
- A custom-designed stair handrail made specifically for the clients' vision
- Grandmother's light fittings incorporated into the new home
- Special tiles with family significance carefully worked into areas including the laundry
- Timber from the original house retained and repurposed