News / Views

Nov 8
3 min

The Mayfield Project 2023 - Part 2

Following on from Kara's first blog on her involvement in The Mayfield Project 2023 just before the LEA regional conference - re:...

Aug 23
3 min

State House to Passive House 8 – Step 4 – Let's Go Shopping (for windows and ventilation)

The initial modelling gives a proof of concept. It should give an idea of what type of construction, and insulation levels you need. It...

Aug 2
3 min

State House to Passive House 7 – Step 3 – The Joy of Modelling

When I was at architecture school, (a few years ago), I remember going on a tour of a recently completed building with the architect. It...

Jul 12
3 min

State House to Passive House 6 – Step 2 - Sketch Retrofit Concept

Retrofits are a bit like belly buttons. Are you an Innie or an Outie? This is the key decision you need to make at the beginning of your...

Jun 20
2 min

State House to Passive House 5 – Step 1 - Researching State Houses

If it's good information in, and good information out, the first step is playing detective and finding as much information as possible...

Jun 15
1 min

Experience a Passive House!

International Passive House Open Days are on 23 - 25 June 2023. This is an opportunity to visit Passive House projects throughout the...

Jun 15
1 min

Passive House Certification for Navigation Drive

We are thrilled that our Navigation Drive project is now officially a Certified Passive House. Certification is awarded for Passive House...

Jun 5
2 min

State House to Passive House 4 – Deep Retrofit Workflow in 10 Steps

How should you go about a deep retrofit of an existing house? These are our 10 steps. Coincidently, the excellent Reimagine Buildings...

May 20
2 min

Learning Environments Australasia Design Awards 2023 Winner

We are honored that our work at Silverstream School has been recognised as the winner of the Small Projects Under $2m catagory. This...

May 14
2 min

The Mayfield Project 2023 - Part 1

How are we celebrating Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Learning Environments? In early March I joined 20 other Mayfielders, a...

May 8
2 min

State House to Passive House 3 - 5 Features That Make a Building Better for Refurb.

1. Compact Form or Surface Area to Volume Ratio or Form Factor Sketch of the house's thermal envelope The compactness of the...

Apr 26
2 min

State House to Passive House 2 - I wasn’t going to do this again

I had told myself that I would never again refurbish an old house. What went wrong? Apart from living in a construction site with babies?...

Apr 25
1 min

Passive House 101 in 4 minutes

The best quick description of Passive House we have seen. Great clear summary. Its not crazy hard. There is no wackadoodle (good, we...

Apr 11
2 min

State House to Passive House - Part 1

This is the first in a series on the retrofit of a 1940’s ex-state house. Through the next few months and maybe longer we will use this...

Apr 4
2 min

Silverstream School Receives Two Awards

We are honored to receive two awards for our work at Silverstream School. A commendation in the Learning Environments New Zealand awards...

Nov 24, 2021
2 min

Feedback is the Winner!

We were thrilled recently to be awarded the overall winner of the 13th Annual Learning Environments Australasia Awards for Excellence in...

Oct 24, 2021
4 min

How to Fail the Right Way

How we investigated creating a certified Passive House school building, how we failed, what we learnt and how it was still the right...

Feb 18, 2021
1 min

Why are we so far behind?

Murray recently sat down for a podcast with Matthew Cutler-Welsh of Home Style Green to discuss his career searching for more sustainable...

Feb 18, 2021
3 min

Transitions 19 - That’s Where the Research Is!

A common complaint over the years has been, where is the research? Where is the proof that different types of learning environments work?...

Feb 18, 2021
2 min

The Importance of Proportion of Spaces

(getting the proportion of different spaces in relation to each other right) A coupe of weeks ago we completed sketch design for...