Live your sustainable architecture dreams at Design Canberra Festival 2022

For the first time since the pandemic, the Design Canberra Festival is an in-person event once again and is sharing the best of Canberra architecture – past, present and future. 

The festival celebrates Canberra as the capital of design, and will be holding more than 200 talks, tours, exhibitions and more from November 2-22 this year. 

Design Canberra Festival chief executive Jodie Cunningham has welcomed the community to the highly anticipated event, following its postponement last year.

“This year’s program is delivered through collaboration between artists, designers, craftspeople, industry, sponsors, educational institutions, organisations and supporters – all of whom contribute to Canberra’s world-class design community,” she said. 

“After postponing the festival in 2021, we are excited … to engage our community in important dialogue and programs that speak to our collective design futures.”

For the property lovers, there is a plethora of architectural tours and advice sessions scheduled throughout the festival, offering opportunities to learn about Canberra’s architectural history, or how to design your home to be more sustainable. 

So why not give it a try in November? Here are a couple of the highlights. 

Contemporary Architecture Tour: Crace Eclectic House by Megaflora

One step towards sustainable housing and building is recycling materials, and this home in Crace makes the most of this idea. 

The house was built with the theme of ‘eclectic’ in mind, but also was designed to prioritise natural thermal comfort and energy efficiency.

A tour of the home will be held on Sunday November 20, and the address and further details will be emailed to participants one week before the date. 

Canberra Low Carbon Housing Challenge

This free event is for those interested in sustainable design of homes, or how to make your current home more energy efficient. 

The ACT government’s promise to reach net zero emissions by 2045 will change the way residences are designed and built, and this exhibition will show you how. 

View transformed and sustainable ‘ex-govies’, and learn practical and achievable ways to sustainably adjust your home throughout the whole festival. 

Architecture Stroll at Little Loft House with Jenny Edwards, Light House Architecture & Science

For anyone interested in making their current home more energy efficient, this one’s for you. 

Jenny Edwards of Light House Architecture & Science will be directing a tour around the Little Loft House, a dwelling rejecting the notion that homes can’t be sustainably improved, to show exactly how she did just that. 

On November 13, learn how the previously cold and dysfunctional house became efficient and beautiful, and how you can do the same to yours. The address will be emailed to participants closer to the date. 

Architecture Tour with Steven Cetrtek

This tour offers a view into the restoration of a Canberra cottage that was originally built in 1930.

Encapsulating one of the festival themes of transformation, the tour will show this process from a midway point. 

Director of Thursday Architecture Steven Cetrtek is embarking on this project for his own family, in one of the 22 homes designed by Canberra’s first architects. 

For the full list of events taking place in November, visit the Design Canberra Festival website. 

Sustainable Houses: Derek Wrigley’s Kalma House + Fab-ode House with Light House Architecture & Science

These sustainable houses were transformed from 1970s homes with no consideration for energy efficiency, to houses measuring 6.8 stars of energy efficiency, which is something you can do too. 

The transformation of these properties included the implementation of built-in solar hot water, window to floor area optimisation and double-glazed windows, so you can walk in and be inspired. 

Both homes are in Kaleen, so take a stroll through the streets on Sunday November 6 and make the most of the efficiency at your fingertips.