A New Type of Housing, designed specifically to respond to South-West climatic conditions, was officially opened in Collie today by Lands Minister Brendon Grylls.
The Wing House, South-West winner of LandCorp's REAL Challenge (Regional Environmental Affordable Living), showcases how high-performing climate-responsive design can be achieved without the price often associated with architectural innovation.
"The REAL Challenge competition was conceived in response to the State Government's commitment to finding solutions to address rising energy and water costs, through homes that are better designed and built to cope with their local climates." Mr. Grylls said.
The home also features one of the first domestic uses in Australia of efficient roof-mounted Windpods, which together with solar cells, provide energy to the home.
As Western Australia is so climatically diverse, a different type of climate-responsive home is needed in the far North of the State, so the REAL Challenge competition also called for designs specifically suited to northern regions.
The Kimberley winner of the competition, the K1 home, designed by SIA Architects and built by Northern Aspect Construction, responds to the environmental conditions of Kununurra.
Like its South-West counterpart, the architecturally-creative K1 includes a wide number of innovative measures to help reduce both construction costs and ongoing energy costs, while at the same time offering style and great comfort of living.
Both homes are available for public inspection at weekends.