MARCH 2007

“THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT”

A slick inner-city terrace with classic old-school stylings looks so good, you’d never guess it’s built around an eco-friendly design. A decade ago, the term ‘environmentally sustainable living’ might have conjured up images of solar-powered homes on stilts nestled in rainforests – how times have changed! With increasing concerns about global warming and reduced rainfall, eco-friendly housing designs have never been more pertinent or so appealing. As this contemporary renovation in Sydney’s inner west shows, energy-saving measures have become easier to achieve, less visible and more sophisticated in their design.

Owned by John and Rachel, a young professional couple, this six-metre-wide terrace on an unusually long block was dark, lacked ventilation and the rear of the building faced west, which meant too much afternoon sunlight, says architect Ed Davis of Davis Yee Architects. In love with open-plan living, John and Rachel commissioned Ed to reinvent the space. “The brief was very open, which is unusual for inner-city projects,” Ed says. “Opening up the terrace to light and air, while controlling the entry of direct sunlight, became the major challenge.”

Today, the renovation achieves every part of the brief – and an environmentally sustainable design to boot, which is good news for the couple’s energy and water bills.