Each townhouse at Alphington has been designed with excellent connections to the outdoors, maximised access to north light, and natural ventilation.

Internal spaces allow for flexibility and varied lifestyles of inhabitants. Impact of vehicles, which often dominates multi-residential developments, has been minimised, allowing for increased landscaping on the street, generous north facing garden areas and balconies, and internal courtyards. These courtyards bring natural light into the centre of each townhouse, greatly enhancing the quality of internal spaces, encouraging indoor/outdoor living, allowing for cross-ventilation and natural light to every room.

The sub-division of the land, and eventual design of the townhouses, focused on the orientation of the block, to maximise north light to habitable rooms and private open space. A thermally efficient envelope was created, enhanced by specifying appropriate materials and systems such as double glazing, insulation and thermal mass.

As the building is located in a temperate climate, it needed to be able to cater for both hot and cold climatic conditions. This meant providing natural heating in winter by means of north-facing windows, thermal mass, doubling glazing, and maximum insulation to walls and ceiling. Unwanted summer heat gain is prevented by way of appropriately designed eaves, blinds, cross ventilation, thermal mass, double glazing, and maximum insulation.

These climate-responsive homes display passive solar and sustainable design principles throughout, creating a durable and comfortable dwelling for a range of inhabitants over time.

Water efficiency has been achieved by way of collecting all rainwater into tanks, which is utilised in toilets and garden areas, while also maximising garden areas and permeable paving on site, while resource efficiency has been achieved by using recycled bricks, sustainably sourced and milled timbers, an efficient structure with no steel, and installing low-maintenance materials.

KEY INITIATIVES

• Natural light to all habitable rooms
• North-facing gardens and balconies
• Raked ceilings and clerestory windows for north light and natural ventilation via the 'stack effect'
• Minimised car parking areas to increase garden space
• Sustainable material selection, including recycled red bricks and sustainably harvested and milled timbers
• Double glazing and maximised insulation
• Use of locally sourced and resource efficient materials where possible
• Detailed site analysis to determine best orientation and built form in order to maximise passive solar gain and protect neighbouring amenity
• Implementation of passive solar design principles to minimise resource depletion
• Thermal mass concrete slab at north facing windows at ground floor level
• Central courtyards to improve natural light, ventilation, and connection to the outdoors
• A sense of space and flexibility

PRODUCTS

WINDOWS
RYLOCK

SILVERTOP ASH CLADDING
RADIAL TIMBER SALES, RADIAL SAWN

LVL SMARTFRAME RAFTERS
TAIT TIMBER AND HARDWARE

PLANTATION PINE FRAME
TAIT TIMBER AND HARDWARE