The Roost
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House Notes – The Roost
We wanted to have a home that was cool in summer and warm in winter without having air conditioning or central heating. Timber-framed strawbale with lots of insulation in the roof space has achieved this.
I grew up in a house in Cornwall UK that was about 300 years old, so wanted our place to feel not-new! A fair amount of the timber is recycled from the Bindi Bindi Hall (about 100kms away) with some from the Great Northern Highway realignment, which we milled with a portable sawmill.
We are off-grid because connection was going to be expensive and being at the end of the line means lots of power outages. Our farm has no good underground water sources, so we collect rainwater as our only supply. The septics are a Biolytix worm system. The atmosphere inside is very comfortable.
Designed by Forward Design Byron Bay.
Sarah and Geoff share their surrounds with walks, wildlife and cups of tea, find out more about Carrah Farms here.
Click here to watch their YouTube clip ‘Improving Habitat and Connectivity in the Farming Landscape for Birds in the Moore River Catchment.’
Andrew Morrison from StrawBale has run a workshop at The Roost.
Sustainability Features
- Energy efficiency:
- Efficient lighting
- Passive heating cooling:
- Cooling tower
Cross-ventilation
Passive solar designed home
Thermal mass
- Active heating cooling:
- Ceiling fans
- Water heating:
- Solar hot water (evacuated tube)
Wood fire wetback
- Water harvesting and saving features:
- Above-ground rainwater storage
Blackwater system
Greywater system
Worm farm septic tank system
Stormwater management
Drip irrigation
- Above ground rainwater storage Type:
- Pioneer 250,000L water tank, 3 x 20,000L Rapid plastic tanks 90,000L Rhino tank
- Above ground rainwater storage Size
- 400,000L total
- Energy Efficient Lighting
- LED lights throughout
Natural daylight
- Sustainable materials:
- Strawbale (baled from a friend's barley stubble by me), lime render, recycled floorboards
- Recycled and reused materials:
- Appliances
Basins/sinks
Bathroom cabinets
Bottles
Doors
Kitchen cabinets
Light fixtures
Rocks/stone
Timber
Windows
- Insulation Type:
- Under-roof
Ceiling
- Ceiling Type:
- Bulk – natural wool
- Ceiling Rating:
- R2.0
- Under Roof Insulation Type:
- Reflective foil
- Under Roof Insulation Rating:
- R2.0
- All-Electric Home?
- No
- Renewable energy used:
- Solar PV off-grid
- Size of PV system:
- 5kW
- Renewable energy
- Wood burning stove for cooking in winter
- Total cost of home when constructed:
- $500,000
- Estimate of annual savings:
- $5000
- House Size
- 459m2
- Roof
- Metal (zincalume)
- Wall Materials
- Strawbale
- Window and Door Types
- Bi-fold
Double hung
- Universal design accessability
- Adaptive design
- Universal Design Features
- Hobless showers
Lever handles for doors (no knobs)
110cm minimum width hallways
No corner cupboards
Shower head on rail for various heights
Space around toilets for ease of access in wheelchairs
Tapware to be easily accessed from outside the shower
- Number of bedrooms
- 2
- Number of bathrooms
- 2
- Garden / Outdoors
- Bee hotels/friendly
Composting
Drip irrigation
Organic
Permaculture
Native plants
Water-wise plants
- Healthy home features
- Chemical-free cleaning products used
Cross-flow ventilation
Lime render/wash
- Housing Type:
- Standalone House
- Project Type:
- New Build
- Builder
- Paul Robertson, Sarah and Geoff Mason
- Designer
- Forward Design Byron Bay
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