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Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Rebuild Of A 1990s Melbourne Townhouse

Field Office Architecture went back to the drawing board to literally rebuild this 1990s Burnley townhouse from the ground up.
Architecture

How This Cabin Makes The Most Of Its Tiny Footprint

At just 15 square metres, this architectural tiny home on Kangaroo Island has everything you need for a weekend getaway.
Sustainable Homes

An Off-Grid House Immersed In Enchanting Gardens

This sustainable home in Noosa's hinterland was designed to be engulfed by the owner's beloved gardens.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable New Perth Home With A Mid-Century Feel

Sustainability underpins every element of this Scarborough home with a mid-century inspired look designed by MDC Architects.
Architecture

A Light-Filled Renovation Inspired By A Beloved Childhood Game

A simple folded paper game inspired the clever design of a Melbourne bungalow, with separate yet interconnected rooms.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Shipping Container Home, Surrounded By Bushland

The founders of Green Magazine have created their dream sustainable home on the Great Ocean Road.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Makeover Of A Weatherboard Country Cottage

Seven years after Studio Dot architect Steele Olney purchased a weatherboard cottage, it’s become a comfortable and surprisingly sustainable sanctuary for the whole family.
Sustainable Homes

A Revived 1850s Inner-City Cottage With A Generous Green Roof

This compact inner-city Melbourne cottage is having a big impact thanks to an efficient renovation and green roof by Nest Architects.
Architecture

This Sustainable Home Brings The Outdoors In — In The Best Way

Olaver Architecture designed this new Melbourne house around a striking central courtyard and a suite of sustainable materials.
Sustainable Homes

This 9-Star Home Raises The Bar For Sustainable Renovations

Find out how this Mornington Peninsula home achieved a 'crazy' impressive energy rating of 9 stars thanks to a clever renovation.
Architecture

This Humble Weatherboard Hides A Hardworking Extension

Steffen Welsch Architects revamped this warm Melbourne family home with sustainability and functionality in mind.
Sustainable Homes

A Suburban Sustainable Family Home With A Tiered Native Garden

It uses up to 90 percent less energy than traditional homes!
Architecture

A Multi-Generational Family Home Wrapped Around A Central Garden

Edition Office have designed an open house around a central courtyard with enough space for the parents, grandparents and children to all live separately, together.
Architecture

A Perth Passive House Inspired By Traditional Japanese Architecture

This architect's own family home blends Japanese-inspired details with the sustainable standards of Germany's Passivhaus principles.
Architecture

A Humble Cabin Designed To Blend Into The Queensland Bush

This Fouché Architects-designed cabin allows the owner to live among the lush tree canopy of a bushland block.
Architecture

A Transportable Off-Grid Dwelling On A Breathtaking Tasman Peninsula Site

Saxon Hall has reimagined the typical camping facilities block in this stunning new project.
Sustainable Homes

An Architect’s Sustainable Creekside Family Home In Frankston South

The low-impact design and regenerative landscape of architect Christopher Botterill's family home gives back to the local environment.
Architecture

A Scandi-Inspired Boathouse With Views Of Lake Macquarie, NSW

This new Speers Point house nods to vintage boat shacks to create an incredible family home among the treetops.
Sustainable Homes

How A Clever Renovation Cut This Retro Brick Home’s Energy Bills In Half

This retro Brunswick West family home is now a surprisingly energy-efficient sanctuary, thanks to a savvy extension.
Sustainable Homes

This Perth Family Home Paves The Way For 'True Net Zero' Design

This architect's own family home is carbon negative, without compromising on style or liveability.
Sustainable Homes

A Family’s Much-Loved ‘Upcycled House’ In Ocean Grove

The architects at Freehand Projects have created a sentimental and sustainable home, complete with recycled bricks and an incredible library.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Strawbale Home With Panoramic Country Views

Huff’n’Puff Haus by Envirotecture is a passively designed home in central Victoria that generates more energy than it uses.
Sustainable Homes

A Family's Sustainable Sanctuary, Built From Biodegradable Material

This newly built hempcrete house in Melbourne’s north-east is designed to be as eco-friendly as possible.
Sustainable Homes

An All-Timber, Small Footprint Addition To A Simple Weatherboard Cottage

North King by Ben Callery Architects in Northcote, Melbourne has been newly-extended with an efficient all-timber addition.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Retrofit Of A ’70s Apartment Building In Fitzroy

Rather than tear down this red-brick building, its been retrofitted to create a series of sustainable apartments with impressively low energy bills.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Family Home Designed On The ‘Smallest Footprint Possible’

Perth landscape architects See Design Studio designed this 110-sq m house around its lush Mediterranean-inspired gardens!
Sustainable Homes

Inside Melbourne's Unconventional 'Evergreen' Apartment Building

Evergreen by Clare Cousins Architects is one of the six Nightingale buildings in Brunswick, where leafy balconies and rooftop gardens offer the best of apartment living!
Sustainable Homes

An All-Electric Dream Home That Feels Like A Hidden Bushland Retreat

Oanh and Justin Harding's sustainable family home is a perfect and peaceful sanctuary, nestled into Melbourne’s outer east.
Sustainable Homes

Inside A Spectacular Sustainable Farmhouse Made From Rammed Earth

The owners behind this new farmhouse on the Mornington Peninsula share how the low-energy home harnesses the elements, with views at every turn!
Sustainable Homes

This Mosman Home Embraces Nature With An Architectural 'Garden Room'

House for BEES by Downie North is a sustainable renovation grounded in its lush backyard, complete with a native beehive!
Sustainable Homes

An Off-Grid Family Home Settled Into Victoria’s High Country

Little Granite House is a compact 100 square metre rural family home that responds to its High Country environment.
Sustainable Homes

How A New Zealand Architect Built His Home For $150,000 (With No Construction Experience!)

Architect William Samuels and Hannah D’Arcy designed and constructed their 42 square metre home on leased land in Nelson, New Zealand.
Sustainable Homes

How This Family Created Their Sustainable Forever Home From Scratch

Years of living in draughty rentals led Katherine Post and Chris Gyngell to build a sustainable forever home, guarded against the elements. See how they did it here.
Sustainable Homes

A South Gippsland Home Both Protected From + Inspired By The Elements

A textured brick wall wraps around three pavilions in Fish Creek House, sheltering the home from the ferocious winds.
Sustainable Homes

This Accessible NSW Home Beautifully Channels Japanese Architecture

Butterfly House by Dane Taylor is a sustainable and thoughtful coastal retreat, that blends mid-century design and Japanese architecture.
Sustainable Homes

A Breezy + Sustainably Minded Extension Designed For Entertaining

This old Edwardian in Melbourne has been turned into an entertainer's dream sanctuary with a passively designed extension.
Sustainable Homes

This Off-Grid Holiday Home Makes The Most Of Its Serene Views

Hidden in Robertson, NSW, this serene family retreat offers an outlook of the enchanting Yarrawa Brush and Kangaroo Valley.
Sustainable Homes

This Sustainable, Architect-Designed Farm Stay Makes The Most Of Its 40sqm Footprint

Gawthorne’s Hut is a sustainable, off-grid 40sqm home located on a working family farm - built for a budget of just $250,000.
Sustainable Homes

How This Family Transformed A 100-Year-Old Edwardian Into An Energy Efficient Home

A sustainably-minded renovation of an old Edwardian home in Preston, Melbourne, respects the old whilst celebrating the new.
Sustainable Homes

How An Architect Turned This 1930s Bungalow Into A Sustainable Family Haven

Architect Emily Sandstrom's warm family home runs off solar power, with a vegetable garden and impressive entertaining area hidden inside!
Sustainable Homes

9 Innovative Homes That Championed Sustainability In 2022

These environmentally-conscious homes prove that style and design aren't compromised when sustainability is considered.
Sustainable Homes

‘Future Ready’: Inside One Of Melbourne’s Newest Sustainable Developments

Mirvac are hoping to encourage sustainable living with their innovative 'future ready' display home in Melbourne's inner west.
Sustainable Homes

A Compact Passive House Built Around A Pepper Tree

A Wollongong home gets a secondary, sustainable dwelling by Alexander Symes Architect wrapped in and around a 60-year-old pepper tree.
Sustainable Homes

The New Australian Housing Company Creating Customisable Small Homes

Dimensions X aims to be the ‘Tesla of housing’, creating energy-efficient, prefabricated homes that can be assembled in just six weeks.
Sustainable Homes

An Ultra-Sustainable Home On An ‘Undevelopable’ Melbourne Site

Hütt is a Melbourne practice setting a new standard of sustainable residential design, starting with the CEO’s own family home!
Sustainable Homes

A Timber Beach House Inspired By Its Humble Predecessor

An extensive renovation of a Mornington Peninsula beach shack by Agius Scorpo Architects explores craft and ingenuity.
Sustainable Homes

Architects Team Up To Ditch Gas In Australian Homes

Leading Australian architects are pushing for all-electric homes. Here's everything you need to know to ditch gas for good.
Sustainable Homes

A Relocated Edwardian Home Gets A Sustainable Second Chance

Developers Melbourne Vernacular relocated and transformed this Melbourne home into a liveable, 7-star abode in Woodend.
Sustainable Homes

A Striking Sustainable Family Home In Flinders

Nestled on the Mornington Peninsula, the 7.5-star home proves you don't have to compromise on design when it comes to sustainability.
Sustainable Homes

An 8.4 Star Home In Australia’s Most Sustainable Housing Development

A South Gippsland home that proves sustainable design can beautiful, clever, and cost effective.
Sustainable Homes

A Thoughtful Northcote Renovation Brings Family Together With An Open Backyard Kitchen

Fireside House by Breathe architects draws on the homeowners' upbringing in the country, and their love of spending time outdoors by the fire for the sustainable update of an old Edwardian.
Sustainable Homes

This New Northcote Home Takes Its Cues From Italian Villages

Think of West Bend House — a new home designed by MRTN Architects with designers Brave New Eco — as an ‘inhabited pathway.’
Sustainable Homes

Two Sustainable Rental Properties In Melbourne’s Middle Ring

An environmentally-sustainable and well-designed rental housing project by Breathe Architecture in Melbourne's Glen Iris.
Sustainable Homes

A Fijian Resort Meets Australian Barn In The Sunshine Coast Hinterland

The Barn by Sparks Architects is a new off-grid home on the Sunshine Coast inspired by Fijian resorts and country Australian barns.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Light-Filled Frankston Home Producing Negative Power Bills

This Frankston home proves sustainable building and materials can produce a home that's just as charming and comfortable than the next - and with negative power bills!
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Retreat In Rural Queensland Inspired By Classic American Glass Houses

Bellbird Retreat by Steendyk is a sustainable rural Queensland project that’s taken the global architecture community by storm.
Sustainable Homes

A Relaxed Torquay Beach House Decked Out In Timber

Beach House is Farnan Findlay Architects’ take on a quintessential coastal home, designed for the architects’ own family.
Sustainable Homes

A Modest Contemporary Home Inspired By Classic Tasmanian Shacks

Big Red by Architect George is a contemporary interpretation of an Australian shack in south east Tasmania.
Sustainable Homes

This Thoughtful Mt Eliza Home Was Designed For 'Ageing In Place'

BENT Architecture designed this Mt Eliza home to accomodate its owners comfortably and securely, with an infallible connection to nature.
Sustainable Homes

Step Inside A Thornbury Extension Designed Around Its Future Gardens

This inner-city cottage has been given a sustainably-minded makeover by Architecture Architecture.
Sustainable Homes

A Prototype For Accessible + Responsible Suburban Housing

Bligh Graham delivers a prototype for responsible dense, green architecture in new builds.
Sustainable Homes

An Elevated 100sqm Beach Shack That Champions Passive Design

The Eucalypt House by Not All Architecture creates space beyond its modest footprint.
Sustainable Homes

A Transportable, Off-Grid Tiny Home Made From Shipping Containers

Capturing incredible views towards Mount Buller, Victoria, life in this pair of tiny homes is about as close to nature as it gets!
Sustainable Homes

The Australian Architects Designing New Houses For An Affordable Flat Fee

Purchase architectural house plans for an affordable flat fee by new Australian business, Architopia.
Sustainable Homes

A Game Changing Apartment-Sized, Transportable Tiny Home

The Brook by Small is a tiny house with a difference, reminiscent of a New York City Apartment!
Sustainable Homes

A Farmer’s Tiny Copper-Clad Getaway!

Permanent Camping Two by Casey Brown Architecture is a unique countryside retreat.
Sustainable Homes

A Surprise Garden Brings This 'Pop-Up' Home To Life

Figr creates a unique language between indoor and outdoor spaces to truly maximise this small footprint home.
Sustainable Homes

A Lush Inner-Melbourne Home That Powers Itself

The owners of Garden House by Austin Maynard Architects pay nothing for fuel or power – it all comes from their home!
Sustainable Homes

An Elegant Off-Grid Home In Three Parts, On Magical Waiheke Island

Auckland-based firm Chesire Architects have designed a home with an intimate, immersive relationship with the environment.
Sustainable Homes

A Former Corner Store Turned Sustainable Family Home

A dilapidated, Federation-era shopfront is transformed into a truly unique, energy efficient home.
Sustainable Homes

A Melbourne Home Turned From Tired, To Inspired!

A mere 39 square metre extension has made all the difference to this Northcote family home.
Sustainable Homes

A Zero-Waste, Two Bedroom Home In The Middle Of Melbourne’s Federation Square!

Anti-waste crusader Joost Bakker takes us inside the culmination of his life’s work.
Sustainable Homes

The Most Inspiring Sustainable Homes Of 2020

These projects were the standout sustainable homes of 2020.
Sustainable Homes

A Shed-Inspired Home, Designed To Age Gracefully

The debut project of Wiesebrock Architecture is a brilliant shed-inspired home, divided into two pavilions.
Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Inner-Suburban Home, Designed To Be Deconstructed + Reused

A rare creekside site deserves an equally special home by sustainable design leaders, Breathe Architecture.
Building Better

The Best Building Materials For A Sustainable Home

From rammed earth to concrete, which building material is the most environmentally friendly?
Sustainable Homes

This Sustainable Apartment Is A Little Slice Of LA, In Melbourne

First home buyers Samantha Curcio and David Waddell share their sleek, sustainable and personality-filled apartment.
Building Better

How To Approach Interior Design, Sustainably!

From choosing the right materials, to improving energy efficiency, here’s everything you need to know about sustainable interior design!
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The Design Files acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

First Nations artists, designers, makers, and creative business owners are encouraged to submit their projects for coverage on The Design Files. Please email submissions@thedesignfiles.net

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