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How a comprehensive renovation can transform a home, even when faced with many challenges, into a warm, comfortable, and energy-efficient space.
The client brief was to transform a drafty two-bedroom home into a comfortable space for a family of four. The clients, a young environmentally conscious couple with two toddlers, love their Coburg North community, valuing the proximity to Merri Creek and local schools. With no plans to move, they faced the reality that their small home was becoming less suitable as their children grew. Instead of selling and leaving their neighborhood friends, they chose to undertake an extensive renovation to create a sustainable forever home that meets their family’s needs for years to come.
Despite its potential, this home faced significant challenges. Its south-facing orientation posed difficulties for passive solar design, and it had minimal insulation, primarily remnants in the ceiling. The double brick walls complicated renovations, but we committed to preserving as many existing walls as possible. Additionally, while the single-glazed steel windows added aesthetic charm, they required upgrades to enhance energy efficiency.
On the positive side, the home was nestled on a quiet cul-de-sac with a welcoming street presence and was conveniently located near the beautiful parklands of Merri Creek. Its mid-century charm was undeniable, showcasing cream clinker brickwork that reflected Melbourne’s post-war heritage. The slimline steel windows provided lovely views of the garden, and the foundations were in excellent condition, offering a solid base for renovation.
To tackle these challenges, we designed a two-bedroom, one-bathroom first-floor extension to the south of the home. This extension featured a cozy daybed area for capturing city views and watching the nightly bat migration, along with a green roof replacing the rooftop bath. By concentrating the extension in a limited area, we effectively connected the ground and first floors through a zoned staircase on the west side—crucial for comfort and energy efficiency. This staircase also linked to the living room and what we referred to as the European terrace.
The design allowed us to enhance the street frontage with an inviting façade while retaining nearly all existing brick walls. Major renovations focused on updating the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry. The result was a stunning 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom family home that perfectly fulfilled the clients' brief.
Now it gets really interesting as we delve into the improvements made to achieve such outstanding results. Starting with the extension, we implemented our standard wall system featuring a 140mm stud wall with a ventilated cavity and added durable zinc corrugated iron cladding, which requires no maintenance and provides excellent airflow. The exterior was complemented with beautiful western red cedar shingles, enhancing the home’s character.
The first-floor ceilings were kept pitched to promote natural cooling. We installed R6.0 ceiling batts and ProClima Mento as our weather-resistant barrier, while Rylock double-glazed aluminum windows improved thermal performance.
In the renovation, we addressed the challenges of double brick walls with no insulation and single-glazed steel windows. We chose to apply 60mm Kingspan K17 Kooltherm, achieving an impressive R2.35 insulation rating. Instead of replacing the original windows, we restored the frames by sandblasting and repainting, installing double-glazed units for enhanced efficiency.
Ceiling insulation was straightforward, with R6.0 batts installed, and underfloor insulation was achieved using R2.5 polyester batts, creating a solid and well-sealed foundation topped with recycled Messmate timber flooring.
The outcome is a beautifully transformed 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom family home that meets the needs of our clients while maximizing energy efficiency and sustainability.
And that’s how we transformed this tired, leaky, uninsulated mid-century home, moving from a blustery 27.7 ACH and a miserable 3.1 NatHERS star rating to a beautiful, comfortable, sustainable home achieving 7.4 ACH and an impressive 6.1 NatHERS star rating. We hope our clients will enjoy their new home for many decades to come. A huge thank you to our wonderful clients for allowing us the opportunity to create meaningful change in their home.
