House at Dell Road, St Lucia

From the outset, the house at Dell Rd St Lucia has been an exercise in ecologically sustainable design. Located in one of the quieter streets of an otherwise busy university area, the steep terrain and condition of the existing house were among the early challenges presented by the site. The design for the house began in late 2009 with construction commencing in April 2010. The house incorporates a number of modern and age old principles of designing with minimal environmental impact in mind. These principles include: the use of thermal mass, evaporative cooling, the thermal chimney effect, a green wall shading element, natural light and ventilation through Breezeway louvers and water harvesting.

Ventilation

The key to achieving good indoor air quality in a house of this scale is natural ventilation flowing through the spaces. With the use of Breezeway Louver systems as well as other suitable windows, the house can be opened up allowing for good cross ventilation. Two water features as well as a pool serve to cool the house via evaporative cooling and natural convection.  The bathrooms all have breezeway louvers for ventilation all year round.

Light  

To minimize the need for artificial light, the windows and glass sliding doors have been designed to allow as much natural light to penetrate into the house, where the conditions allow. At the ground level a light well runs down both the east and west sides at the point where the terrain slopes up towards the backyard. This allows light to penetrate into the rooms on the ground level. A water feature in the eastern light well increases sunlight ingress into the guest bedroom and bathroom by reflection off the water.

Tree-house Concept

A tree-house is a place for escape and relaxation. The tree-house idea in the Dell Road house is to create a space that is a retreat from the city yet still within the city. A ModWood screen that wraps around this section of the house minimizes artificial light egress at night while helping to shade the living room and master bedroom during the day. The volume of the tree-house, while attached to the rest of the house, projects up into the trees, therefore providing a healthy space of retreat close to nature.

See our PDF Brochure for more details.