Joint Winner: Building Scale Category
Location: Taungurung Country,
Strathbogie Ranges, VIC
Client: Private Residents
Typology: Residential
Site Area: 200m2
Architect and interior design: Envirotecture
Engineer: BSE Consulting
Builder: Hedger Constructions
Passivhaus Certifier: Detail Green
Building Science: Alex Slater
The Huff’n’Puff Haus, located on Taungurung Country, is a serene off-grid retreat that embodies a profound connection with nature. Nestled within the dramatic landscape of the Strathbogie Ranges, the home integrates seamlessly with its rural surroundings.
The design fosters a harmonious relationship with the natural environment, offering panoramic views of the landscape and sky that keep the occupants deeply connected to their surroundings. Large, high-performance windows and doors invite abundant natural light, framing breathtaking vistas while ensuring thermal efficiency. These features dissolve the boundary between indoors and outdoors, creating living spaces that feel intimately tied to the environment. The home celebrates the beauty of the expansive sky, allowing residents to revel in the glowing colours of dawn, fiery sunsets, and clear, star-filled nights, enriching their connection to the rhythms of nature.
The house is carefully designed to meet the challenges of the region’s cool-temperate climate, including freezing winters, intense summer heatwaves, and the threat of bushfires. Built to the rigorous Passivhaus standard, it delivers stable indoor temperatures, excellent air quality, and robust resilience. With its commitment to ecological integrity, sustainability, and sensory delight, the Huff’n’Puff Haus stands as a sanctuary that honours and harmonises with the beauty and power of the natural world.
Study Author: Fiona Gray, Bioliving by Design
How is it Biophilic?
Prospect and Refuge: Large windows allow for unimpeded views into the distance, while the deep window reveals provide a protected space to sit quietly and observe.
Connection with natural systems: Large windows show the changing sky and landscape, allowing the observation of weather patterns and fostering a connection with the climate.
Airflow variability: Doors and operable windows allow for natural ventilation, while ceiling fans assist with air movement.
Sensory variability: Timber-batten doors create dappled light and shade.
Age and the patina of time: Natural hardwood timbers show the patina of ageing.
Visual and physical connection with nature: Large sliding doors allow for panoramic views and provide a direct, physical connection to the outdoors.
Natural materials: Finger-jointed FSC-certified pine window frames add textural interest while also reducing waste.
Ecological connection to place: The building feels embedded in the local landscape, creating a distinct sense of place.
Material connection with nature: Exposed stone aggregate has subtle colour and size variations, creating a cohesive natural colour palette.
Sensory variability: Internal textural materials juxtapose with white joinery.
Complexity and order: High and low ceilings with different finishes create spatial hierarchy and provide variability within the simple architectural form.
Visual connection with nature: Triple-glazed doors provide a visual connection to the landscape and allow abundant natural light, while also enhancing thermal performance.
Material connection with nature: The natural texture and colour of the lime-rendered strawbale walls provide an earthy, warm and organic aesthetic.
