7 Annoyingly Awesome Australian Homes

They may be on the far side of the world, but Australians have become renowned for their design prowess. The land down under may be most widely known for kangaroos, barbeques, beaches and year-round sunshine, but take a look round the place and you’ll soon discover the country is home to many stunningly beautiful properties. With literally thousands of miles of coastline dotted with beaches and fringed with forest and bushland, it’s not surprising then that the Australians have some of the most spectacular homes you’re ever likely to see.

Here are just seven of the best properties to be found in Australia, with a mix of cutting edge design, eco-friendly sustainability, beachfront locations and modern minimalist design to whet your appetite!

1. The Glenburn House
It’s a well known fact that Australians tend to like living within easy reach of the ocean: take a look at satellite imagery shot during night and you’ll see that hardly anyone lives inland. The Glenburn House designed by Sean Godsell goes against this trend of coastal urban sprawl, and also integrates many great eco-friendly technologies. Built into the hills of Victoria, Glenburn House is easy to heat in winter and easy to keep cool during the long and hot Australian summer. It uses solar panels to generate electricity and hot water, and also boasts rainwater collection systems to help reduce it’s environmental footprint in an area often in drought.

2. Sick Beach House
Located right on a stretch of prime beachfront, Sick Beach House enjoys spectacular views overlooking the Southern Ocean. It might look like a remanufactured shipping container, but this beach house packs some serious design credentials. While the breathtaking views are to-die-for on one hand, they come at a cost. The Southern Ocean is known for its storms, so the designers had to come up with a way to protect the building by using an oxidised steel outer skin. It was designed to be an oasis away from the sterile world of modern offices where the boundary between outdoor and indoor is vague. We think they’ve achieved that, and some!

3. North Carlton Green House
North Carlton Green House was designed by Zen Architects in response to growing climate change problem. There’s a palpable sense of being close to nature because of the use of indoor and outdoor planting, which has created a space that’s more healthy and sustainable. However green it may be inside, it is the rooftop garden that really interests me most. This oasis in the sky provides so many environmental benefits: if there were more urban green rooftops we could reduce the urban heat island effect, drive down temperatures and use less power to condition air for internal spaces. North Carlton Green House also uses a two-storey void for passive heating and cooling: sun can pass through and heat the concrete floors and ceiling, while windows in the void let air flow and cool the inside of the building naturally. Amazingly, this is all achieved without sacrificing architectural style (but it would be fair to say that such a high standard of interior design involved more than a few balance transfers). North Carlton Green House truly is a triumph of design.

4. The Cape Schank House
This is a house totally integrated into its surrounding environment. Situated in a highly exposed area, The Cape Schank House has been created to be easily cooled and heated, while capturing rainwater to reduce any ecological footprint. There are large wind scoops on the southern elevation that act as a means of passively cooling the building by trapping cool breezes and providing areas of shade. Inside there is a large water tank to capture rainwater from the roof, which is recessed into the living room ceiling and carries the load of the roof. This tank is also responsible for cooling the ambient internal air temperature. Interestingly, the house was named after temporarily hosting an art exhibition called The Schanck Show.

5. Surf Coast House
Much can be said about modern architecture, and what can only be deemed as a lack of foresight. While there are many examples of standout modern architecture, there are many more that are simply bland, boring and completely without soul or purpose. Surf Coast House is the antithesis of vanilla architecture, a building that pushes the boundaries with eye-catching wooden cladding and panoramic vignettes throughout the house. Minimalist, thought-provoking, bright, spacious and relaxing, Surf Coast House is all that modern architecture should aspire to be.

6. Prebuilt Mod House
In an age of consumerism and instant gratification, it isn’t surprising to see the rising demand for prebuilt housing. And while it may be tempting to wax lyrical about the many benefits offered by taking a hands-on approach in the design and build of your home, this simply isn’t an option for many time poor families. Reasonably priced (from AUS $170,000 for a double bedroom property) and stylishly designed, the Prebuilt Mod House is exemplar of why you shouldn’t condemn these modern homes as boring and bland.

7. Caulfield Solar House
The Caulfield Solar House is at the pinnacle of cutting edge environmentally responsible and sustainable building practice. From its conception this building has been designed to reduce its carbon footprint and maximise its sustainability through a number of measures, the most notable of those being solar. With a north-facing orientation, Caulfield Solar House sources much of its heat through passive solar gain with a curved spine wall giving the building internal thermal mass. The building is cooled during the hot summer months with courtyards for passive cooling via cross ventilation augmented by an internal two storey void around the staircase to allow excess heat to escape through the stack effect. Other features of the house include using the swimming pool as a ‘heat sink’ for excess heat generated by the solar power system, hydronic underground heating and rainwater collection.