Where do we live - 2022?

When we learn what someone does for a living, we assume they apply their expert knowledge to their own life without compromise. We expect the hairdresser to always have luscious locks, think the dietician only prepares nutritious and delicious meals, and figure the mechanic has the smoothest running car on the road. We also know these assumptions can sometimes be hilariously wrong.

So, what of us? Where do the architects and scientists of Light House live, and how has our expert knowledge influenced our decisions?

You may be surprised to know that we are normal people, living across the ‘burbs of Canberra. We don’t live in glamorous, off-grid homes but we do share a genuine interest in smaller, sustainable homes. We ‘walk the talk’ that we are constantly speaking about with other normal people across Canberra. We’re just people like you (often with cute dogs and bikes… and a hyper-appreciation for north)!

(NOTE: we first did this blog back in 2017 when our team was much smaller. Read the original version here.)

How do we compare?

Even though we vary in terms of ownership, age and family status, we all prioritise having a smaller footprint — all of our homes are compact and cost-effectively energy-efficient. We like to think of them as little houses with big ideas.

Our average floor area per individual occupant is just 40.3 m². The average new Australian home size is 195m² (+35m² garage), with an average number of occupants of 2.6 => that's 75m² per person in your average new Aussie home!

But it’s not just about size; each of us is aware of operating our home in response to sun angles and temperature — we are all 'solar-active' and ‘sail our ships’ to suit the conditions. We all appreciate spaces that deliver us light, warmth, connection to the outdoors, and provide inviting areas to help our relationships and friendships thrive. We each know that our houses aren’t just 'a collection of rooms’ but a setting that greatly influences our quality of life, and buildings that contribute to our broader community and social responsibilities.

Read and see the proof below…

Jenny and her family — including #zacthesolarpassivedog — have lived in their award-winning, 150 square metre home on a 405 square metre block, in the young Molonglo suburb of Wright, for five years now. In pre-pandemic times, more than 1000 people visited Jenny’s house during ‘open home’ events, to experience what good space efficient, and energy efficient, design feels like. All of those people would be amazed by how much the garden has grown in recent years. The entire house is now surrounded by lush garden, the 15 fruit trees and 4 vegie beds are deliciously productive and the deciduous vines are proving beautiful summer shade to the north, west and east . You can read and see more (including Zac) here.

Jenny's partner after driving into the carport for the first time! Sun-smart pergolas and landscaping now underway.

Duncan and his wife still live in their 72m² attached single level north-facing townhouse in the outer-inner-north that makes up for its small yard by backing onto parkland. Since we last did this post in 2017, they have been joined by two very busy kids, and, needless to say, Duncan rarely gets to chill on the front step these days!

Their home has become far more thermally comfortable over the past 5 years, with less southern glazing, reduced window sizes in bed rooms and double glazing the rest. A new deck (salvaged from one of our clients’ demolished decks) and shaded pergola to the north has increased connection to the park.

The next plan is to do a super, space and energy efficient extension to the home to give the parents just a little more separation from their cherubs. Even after completing the extension, Duncan’s household will still be the leaders on the Light House ‘least floor area per person ladder’.

Duncan chilling in the beautiful new entry way he crafted at the front of his home.

If you were to visit Keith, our resident jack-of-all-trades, you’d find him working on some sort of project in his self-designed, self-built, family-home extension in Gungahlin. Instead of building out, he cleverly popped an extension on top of his three beddy brick veneer home to create an energy efficient, space efficient and highly enjoyable home for his family of five humans and one dog in 2017… now four humans and two dogs! Even though the extension has added 88m² to the original 99m² home, his electricity bills have plummeted due to thorough insulating and close attention to draught sealing. His latest projects have included some clever integrated joinery for his teenagers’ bedrooms and his wife’s home office, plus some bird boxes that have been much enjoyed as temporary homes by the local parrots.

Sarah and her partner purchased a traditional 90s, slab on ground, 3 beddie, 116m² brick veneer house, in Gungahlin, five years ago. After almost a year of house hunting, she and her partner stumbled across a place with amazingly ideal orientation; with no east or west windows and large northern glazing.

They spent around $9,000 draft sealing, installing pump-in wall insulation and fixing gaps in ceiling insulation, putting in ceiling fans, having snug fitting roman blinds installed, and replacing the gas hot water system with an electric heat pump. The EER of the all-electric home has increased from 2.9 stars to 5.7 stars. They rarely need to switch on their one small RCAC split system over summer, and their winter energy bill is very small. Now a four-person household and with Sarah home full time over winter, with a newborn, the biggest bill ever has been $636!

The third bedroom is one of the hardest working rooms in Canberra - at 2.8 x 3.2 metres it functions as a home office, temporary nursery and guest bedroom!

"It's so easy to wish you had more space, but I love having a smaller mortgage, smaller bills and a smaller footprint; it allows us more financial, mental and ethical space to enjoy life."

Deciduous trees along the northern facade of Sarah's home.

The first image shows the northern side of Sarah's home - the small trees are decidiuous and provide shade and transpirational cooling over summer, while letting in loads of sunshine and free heat over winter. The second image shows the raised vegie beds they built soon after moving in.

Blake and his wife and toddler and their beautiful BIG dog live in a 79 square metre, two bedroom apartment in Belconnen. Blakes wins the Light House award for the most impressive house size relative to dog size (he also wins the Light House award for bootcamp or endurance running comps… not that any of us are mad enough to compete against him!). His very active toddler (it’s genetic) has plenty of space to run around in the lovely, shared outdoor spaces.

Christine, her husband, two teenagers and this very cute desk-dog live in a 1960s/extended early 00s typical Canberra brick veneer house (still less than 200m2), in the heart of the Woden Valley (southerners are a rare bunch among the Light Hoosers). Currently performing at a not so great 3.4 stars, Christine has plans afoot to undertake a within footprint renovation in the near future to create a lighter and more space and energy efficient home, ready to tackle the possibility of multi-generational living or the kids never leaving home! The family also enjoys getting away to the coast with their tiny house on wheels, a pop up camper.

Ella and her house-mate live in a 64m2 apartment in Kingsborough's architecturally designed, community-based village. Her garage is her living room, with her DIY free-standing rack holding six bikes, happily sitting next to her TV unit. As she juggles her life as an architectural designer & an elite cyclist, she enjoys the low-maintenance aspect of apartment living. Ella finds it really satisfying when her car can remain parked in its place and she can utilise the benefits of living in her south-lake-hipsterville location where she can stroll to the shops, a yoga class or down to the water for a Sunday arvo picnic. The community has a lovely feel to it, with the village's core aspects centralised around creativity and sustainability. She loves that there are shared gardens, composting services and regular community events, as well as the thoughtfully designed apartments and terraces that the village is made up of.

Anthony, his partner and baby Chihuahua live in a 100m2 north-facing duplex townhouse in Belconnen with a lovely courtyard space to the south that they hope to turn into a productive garden one day. The home has already been draught-sealed by Anthony and the gas connection and appliances will be removed to make way for all-electric living on solar power when they undertake kitchen and bathroom renovations.

PS. How ridiculously cute is this little guy (the dog, not Anthony!)? Anth even does smaller, smarter, sustainable, solar passive dogs.

Bianca and her partner have just bought a two bedroom, 76 square metre, renovator’s and gardener’s delight in Belco. The 561sqm block already has 5 olive trees, 1 almond tree, 2 mandarin trees, 1 plum tree, 2 fig trees, 1 apple tree, 1 loquat tree, 3 or 4 miscellaneous stone fruit trees, 1 ornamental grape, and 1 fruiting grape. Probably more but this is is all that they have discovered so far, oh, and lots of berries! Luckily Bianca is our permaculture guru. She started the UC Sustainability Club and is the driving force behind the UC Community Garden. We cannot wait to see how much incredible produce Bianca harvests from her little suburban farm and to watch as she and her partner (who is very handy with a bit of salvaged timber) transform the house into a sustainable sanctuary of a home.

Dru, his wife, three kids and one dog live in a beautiful, super-efficient home in the inner-north that Dru designed and owner-built (legend!).

Bronte and her partner live in a 92m2 1970s house on a 908m2 block filled with established trees and a multitude of wildlife. Since buying in 2018, they have improved the home's thermal performance by gap sealing, increasing winter solar gain, and installing ceiling insulation, ceiling fans, and cellular blinds.

Pip lives in a share-house in Gungahlin as she adjusts to the change from the Queensland climate (she moved to Canberra from Bundaberg in January!). She’s made of tough stuff though and is up for the challenge.

Karen, her husband, two kids and her mum live in a fantastic 8-star, co-housing arrangement in Belco. They hunted for a block with great orientation, big enough for them to fit a family home for Karen’s mob and a smaller home for her mum. Now they watch their spectacular garden grow and regularly provide us with amazing flowers to often brighten our office.