Flexi Home 2021

House Notes – Flexi Home

Our student team wanted to re-think the current approach to urban living Melbourne. Our compact, flexible and sustainable home addresses issues like urban sprawl, intensive energy consumption and inaccessible living arrangements for those with a disability. It was driven by our desire to preserve the natural environment and promote social inclusion. The result is a design which considers both the future needs of its residents and society as a whole.

One of the key features of the Flexi-Home is that it can adapt to the needs of its occupants at various stages of their life. It contains two independent residencies which are internally linked, allowing the building to be used as single (3 bedroom) residence when desired. This means it can function as a family home or allow the owners to occupy one of the residences – using the other to accommodate their adult children, a carer or as a source of income. The primary residence is completely flat and includes many universal design features. This means it can support elderly occupants and people with a disability. The second residence allows for a carer to live close to the primary residents if needed.

Minimising the Flexi-Home’s environmental impact was also important to our team. By using passive house principles, energy efficient building systems and onsite PV electricity generation, the house achieved a HERS rating of -20 and is net zero energy. Additionally, we selected low carbon footprint and low embodied energy materials where possible, such as Weathertex for the exterior cladding. We also included a high capacity grey water system to minimise water wastage.