A South Hobart practice designing small houses, family homes, off-grid projects and wilderness huts across Tasmania. Our houses are generally over 8 stars.
Waterfall Valley Hut below Barn Bluff, Overland Track, 2020
Based in Hobart for over twenty years. Our own studio runs at 8.7 stars and exports more solar power than it uses. How the practice works
Wilderness hut, Frenchmans Cap, 2018
A hut for 24 bushwalkers below the quartzite cliffs, built from timber panels flown in by helicopter in short windows of good weather at 1000 m. Master Builders energy efficiency award, state and national.
Coastal house, Tasman Peninsula, 2021
A small house hovering above the shore: 83 m² plus a loft, 7.5 stars, self-sufficient for water and wastewater, built with recycled Tasmanian oak and convict bricks.
Small house, kunanyi, 2021
A home for a downsizing couple: carbon neutral, level, accessible and designed for ageing in place, with rammed earth walls and spotted gum cladding to BAL 19.
Renovation, River Derwent
A 1960s waterfront home built by artist owners, lifted to 6 star comfort. The original joinery was restored and matched in local Tasmanian oak, and the basement became a separate flat.
“The huts were seriously impressive, and we observed many walkers unexpectedly extending their overnight stays.”
Read as a section through Tasmania: from sea level on the east coast, over the hills around kunanyi, to huts at 1000 m below Frenchmans Cap.
Coast
Sea level: dunes, bays and the Derwent
Hills
Hobart’s slopes and ridgelines
Alpine
Wilderness huts at up to 1000 m
Straight answers from the practice. Anything else, call the studio on (03) 6224 6810.
Environmentally sustainable and ethical architecture: new houses, renovations and extensions, and small-scale public and commercial buildings. The portfolio runs from granny flats and tiny homes to family houses, off-grid homes and walkers’ huts in Tasmania’s national parks.
Our houses are generally over 8 stars, which we see as the optimum for energy efficiency and economy. We also design passive houses that need hardly any heating or cooling. Our in-house energy expert forecasts each home’s heating needs during design and improves its performance.
Yes. We can now quantify the embodied carbon in any building. A true carbon zero building is operationally carbon zero, with all yearly energy use covered by renewable power (usually rooftop solar), and it also pays back its embodied energy to the grid as renewable power. Our own studio is one example.
Many clients come to us for this. We have completed hempcrete, strawbale, stone, rammed earth and prefabricated buildings, and we enjoy using unusual and recycled materials. We have also designed passive houses, green rooftops and shipping container buildings.
Many of our homes are 60 m² or less, including units, apartments, granny flats, rooftop extensions, prefab buildings and tiny homes. Most of our larger family houses are still under 140 m², because many clients want to minimise their footprint.
Yes. We use 3D modelling so you can explore the building before construction starts. We can model sun penetration at any time of day and year, and the view from particular windows.
Yes. Recent projects are documented to BAL 19, BAL 29 and BAL 29/40, using materials such as spotted gum cladding and shou sugi ban timber. The practice is a member of Architects Assist, which supports communities after bushfire.
Call the studio in South Hobart on (03) 6224 6810, or send an enquiry with your site, your brief and your phone number. We listen first, then talk through how the site, the climate and your budget shape the design.
Tell us where you want to build and how you want to live. We will tell you what the site, the climate and your budget make possible.
