Our Resilient House is a post war house reinvented to encourage resilience through sustainability, community engagement and design for flood and bushfire threat. Designed by contexture architects for their own family, the NatHERS energy rating was improved from 0 to 8.4 stars through passive solar performance, material selection and energy efficient design. The house is solar powered and backed-up by 6.9 kW PV array and 13.5 kWh battery. Harvested rainwater is plumbed to toilets, washing machine, gardens and roof for PV washdowns.
Residing opposite Enoggera Creek, on a busy pedestrian pathway in Ashgrove, the February 2022 floods reached just over 1m in the entry room and undercroft areas. Core filled blockwork, marine ply, hardwood timber treads and raised power outlets were resilient along with the robust undercroft design – verified through flood modelling, to enable flood waters to sweep and safely drain away without burdening neighbouring sites.
Lessons learnt have enabled building back better by replacing moisture resistant plasterboard entry walls with a single skin structure of marine ply cladding and hardwood stud frames. This robust construction enables simple hose-out following future flood events, with reduced waste to landfill and significant savings in time, money and effort in the recovery.
Tour Information
Frequency of Guided Tours: 20- 30 mins on the hour
Tour Tips
Register at the building on arrival
Dress Requirements
No heels
Wheelchair access
Limited
Awards
Environment Accreditation: NatHERS energy rating was improved from 0 to 8.4 stars