The Annandale Forever House
Residential: Single Dwelling
Passivhaus Plus Certification
Annandale, NSW, 2022
The ‘Annandale Forever House’ is a south facing, heritage listed terrace on a leafy street in Sydney’s inner west. Typical to terrace design, the original building was dark and closed-in with small rooms and no connection to the outside by either natural light or visually to the garden. The building was cool in summer and freezing in winter.
The guiding principle of the renovation was to overcome the unfavourable south facing orientation, open up the living spaces to as much natural light as possible and bring some visual delight through a strong connection to a lush garden.
With well-considered architectural design by Karen Erdos Architecture, Passivhaus consultancy from LAB Design, construction expertise of builder Sowden Building Solutions, and the client’s commitment to ‘doing better’ in all decisions, the project achieved certification ‘plus’ and a delightful ‘forever home’.
The side passage which will be densely planted and with splashes of colour to the neighbouring blank walls was conceived holistically as one space with the internal living rooms. Similarly, the expanded courtyard serves to extend the living areas.
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AIRTIGHTNESS n50 ACH@50pascals: 0.9/h
HEATING DEMAND (kWh/m².yr): 14
COOLING DEMAND (kWh/m².yr): 8
HEATING LOAD (W/m²): 15
COOLING LOAD (W/m²): 19
PRIMARY ENERGY RENEWABLE DEMAND (PER): 32
PRIMARY ENERGY RENEWABLE GENERATION (PER): 43 -
PROJECT NAME: The Annandale Forever House
LOCATION: Annandale, Sydney, NSW
NCC CLIMATE ZONE: 5 – Warm temperate
NATHERS CLIMATE ZONE: 17
YEAR OF COMPLETION: 2022
TREATED FLOOR AREA (PHPP sqm): 156
PROJECT TYPE: Retrofit
BUILDING TYPE: Residential: Single Dwelling
CONSTRUCTION TYPE: Ex double Brick + timber frame
CERTIFICATION LEVEL/ ENERGY STANDARD: Passivhaus Plus -
MHRV SYSTEM: Ventilation: Dantherm, HCH5Heat recovery ventilation and Dehumidification: Santa Fe Ultra 70
DOMESTIC HOT WATER SYSTEM: Stiebel Electron WWK302
EXTERIOR WALL TYPE :
• Exterior Walls Timber (new): Weathertex on 18mm vented cavity battens, Prolima Extasana, 90mm Timber frame with R2.7SHD Earthwool batts, Proclima Intello, 35mm service cavity.
• Exterior Walls Masonry (existing): Painted render, 230mm solid brickwork, render, 60mm Steico wood fibre board, lime render.
FLOOR SLAB U-VALUE: 0.136 W/(m2K)
ROOF INSULATION TYPE, MANUFACTURER: R5.0 Earthwool batts or 2 layers of R2.7SHD Earthwool batts, Proclima Intello, Battens, Plasterboard.
ROOF CONSTRUCTION: Metal deck roofing, battens and counter battens, 210mm timber structure
ROOF ENVELOPE U-VALUE: 0.188 W/(m2K)
GLAZING TYPE, MANUFACTURER, G-VALUE, U G-VALUE: Glazing 4mm Clear Toughened/20 Argon /4mm Toughened iPlus Warm Edge Space, Binq, Archetto timber 68mm, 57 %, 1.56 W/(m2K)
EXTERIOR WALL U-VALUE: 0.377 [W/(m2K)] and 0.481 [W/(m2K)]
EXTERNAL DOOR TYPE, MANUFACTURER, U D-VALUE: Timber 68mm, Binq Archetto, 1.56 W/(m2K) -
NUMBER OF MODULES: 24
HEIGHT, WIDTH OF ONE MODULE (m, m): 1500
HEIGHT OF ARRAY: 7
EFFICIENCY ( %): 56
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- Exterior Walls Timber (new): Weathertex on 18mm vented cavity battens, Prolima Extasana, 90mm Timber frame with R2.7SHD Earthwool batts, Proclima Intello, 35mm service cavity, plasterboard
- Exterior Walls Masonry (existing): Painted render, 230mm solid brickwork, render, 60mm Steico wood fibre board, lime render and plaster finish
- Floor slab: existing concrete slab – wood fibre to base of wall in masonry section, 30mm d x 85mm w XPS internal side of 90mm studwork flush with top of slab.
- Roof: Metal deck roofing, battens and counter battens, Proclima Mento 5000 , 210mm timber structure with R5.0 Earthwool batts or 2 layers of R2.7SHD Earthwool batts, Proclima Intello, battens, plasterboard -
With no northern aspect or other means to access light; The originally dark ground floor living spaces were transformed into warm, welcoming spaces that are now flooded with natural light. This was achieved both by sacrificing small areas of the first floor for light shafts to bring natural light down from High performance skylights, as well as a strip of glass flooring to let the ground floor benefit from light from existing first floor windows.
The Passivehaus Enerphit component to the project was a significant challenge, particularly given the building’s heritage listing and the extensive damp problems of the existing fabric. Existing linings were almost completely stripped back to reveal extensive mould throughout, and all insulation and membranes were applied internally to preserve the external heritage features and windows needed to recreate existing styles.
Project Members
ARCHITECT/ INTERIOR DESIGNER: Karen Erdos Architecture BUILDER/ BLOWER DOOR TESTER: Sowden Building Solutions
PASSIVHAUS CONSULTANT/ DESIGNER: Lab Design PASSIVHAUS CERTIFIER : Svetlin Dobrevski, Passive House Bulgaria
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Partridge Partners
MURAL DESIGNER: Lymesmith
WINDOW SUPPLIER: Binq
HRV SUPPLIER: Dantherm
INSULATION SUPPLIER: Earthwool and Steico
AIRTIGHTNESS MEMBRANE SUPPLIER: Pro Clima
ROOFING SUPPLIER: Fielders