An Architect's Own Family Off-Grid Sustainable Home

Melbourne architect, Jerry Wolveridge of Wolveridge Architects, bought the rural property of his clients, and after a study of local agricultural buildings, decided to design a simple, timber-clad pitched off-grid home. Jerry went a step further, adopting the construction methods of Australian sheds, using steel portal frames and avoiding typical "home" materials.

This off-grid home relies heavily on a smart plan arrangement, with the house being long and thin, allowing for optimal cross ventilation which helps during the hot Australian summers. To help heat the home during the chilly Victorian winters, there is a wood-fire boiler and radiator grills and panels. Jerry includes his children into the off-grid living, having guessing games revolving around the internal temperatures.

Website article with photographs and the floor plan;

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#OffGrid #InteriorDesign #HouseTour #HomeTour #HomeDesign #Sustainability

[FluxCity]

Kudos to the architect for actually talking about a design flaw (his thoughts on the amount of glazing throughout the home) as opposed to only highlighting all of the cool stuff. Lovely home!

[justkimmying]

That cat by the sofa is having the time of its life .

[SimpleDwelling]

Who else is now dreaming of going off the grid?

Website article with photographs and the floor plan;

[mosca]

Would love to have a place like that. Great to keep it utilitarian.

[kiwiwanderingusa]

Yeah, there is a reason why a lot of modern homes in America, Brazil and parts of Asia incorporate an outer sheathing of decorative slat work or open masonry blocks to shade the home and create art with those shadow effects on the walls. It really does help with the heat retention.

[SuperTuffgirl]

Beautiful home. Large trees would sure help shade and beautify the landscape.

[neverspreadjamonabadjer]

What a gorgeous off-grid design. Just beautiful. Well done!

[MartyP-lrvw]

Beautiful Jerry - the way the wood weathers makes the units more unobtrusive. I imagine the wood has integral oils to do this & also like the way all the energy saving devices are integrated and hidden - for once also the way you have integrated the photovoltaics is also like a swiss watch - like it, well done.

[aaronvallejo]

In the winter I plug in my electric floors into my solar PV system for heating. In the summer I unplug them and use cross ventilation all night for day time cooling. With high insulation in attic, walls and floor your house will surprise you passively. Beauty house in the country!

[kuzadupa]

I can imagine this is the kind of dad who gets really excited about the functions of the house and like, during a hot day he keeps asking the kids how cool the house is and they begin getting annoyed, so he backs off... but then when theyve been asleep for a few hours, at like 2am, he wakes them up with great excitement and practically shouts at them "guess what temp. The house is right now guys!??!?!" And the kids start crying.

[alexpressley]

An easy fix would be a protruding overhang to reduce overheating. I know it would go against the agricultural aesthetic but traditional homes in hot climates sport a veranda specifically to reduce high internal temperatures.

[cocorene]

I was just looking at the cat, how cute, she/he just inviting to be petted
Thnx again☺️🙊

[jondutton]

I would have liked to see more technicalities pertaining to the sustainability of this home

[simon.houseaccount]

Oh that’s my dream, ,ranch life, ,,off grid .., , animal foster home too /horses and dogs

[dmytrohrychaniuk]

What an extremely flawless terrace you have built. Did you consider to have more terraces to be more sun-protected?

[enaanand]

cool!! beautiful plus off grid... love it

[rantingcullinarian]

Wolverine? That’s what I heard and therefore what I’m going to believe.

[SAWimp]

in what way is this an off grid / sustainable home?

[drewt]

"That was not unlike..." Yikes. When did double negatives become common so common?

[deejohnson]

I would have liked to seen the solar electrical system, batteries and such.