Sneak peek: Brisbane's most sustainable home will be open to the public Sunday

The Garden Room House was built around a challenge architect Caroline Stalker and industrial designer Bruce Carrick set themselves: how can we make the most sustainable home possible?

Initially they wanted to build a house from scratch, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t an option.

“Where we were located, we realised we’d never be able to buy another house in the area because prices went up so much since we bought there,” Ms Stalker said. “If we’re not going to build a house, we want this to be really well thought out and sustainable.”

So they instead set about renovating their prewar cottage. “We said: ‘let’s use as much of the original house as we can’,” Ms Stalker said. “We didn’t get new bathrooms because we didn’t want to throw away anything that worked perfectly well.”

Working out what materials they could reuse from the house was a vital part of their design process. The finished product still contains most of the original timbers and sections of cladding were made of of what would have traditionally been scrap.

“We didn’t want to make a whole lot of landfill because we wanted a new house,” Ms Stalker said.

Potentially the most innovative and inspired feature of the house was the transformation of the little-used pool into a hybrid cooling and heating system for the home.

“We recycled the pool as a storage tank, and then we capped it off so we had a little pond with fish in it,” Ms Stalker said. “When the breeze blows over the pond it cools the living room, but we’ve also reticulated the water through the bottom of the house to help cool and heat the house.”

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The cottage is more open plan now too, designed to take advantage of breezes and sunlight.

“Bruce did a lot of designing around the sun as well,” said Ms Stalker. [He wanted to] capture the sun the winter and exclude the sun in the summer.”

Ms Stalker and Mr Carrick planned to open their home as part of Sustainable House Day 2017, Sunday September 17.

Ms Stalker said she hoped the couple’s shared passion would inspire Brisbane homeowners to do what they can to make their own homes more sustainable.

“One of the things I’ve been doing over the years was how do we make subtropical design a way of being more sustainable,” she said. “We live in a climatic sweet spot for sustainability design.”

Several other homes near Brisbane were available to inspect on Sunday, Alternative Technology Association spokesperson Katy Daily said. Ms Daily pointed to a home in Fernvale as another highlight of the event.

“That is a couple with small children who are aiming to be self sufficient. It’s an evolutionary process for them,” she said. “They used clever designs and engineering. It’s a good place where people can get cheap and practical advice.”

Those wishing to visit any of the open homes this sunday should visit sustainablehouseday.com for more information. Registration is required to attend.