Blackburn House
Location | Watson, ACT Date reno completed | October 2021
Original house | Canberra ex-govie 412 built in 1968, extended 1977
EER | 7.7 stars (started at 3 stars; 80% predicted reduction in energy use)
Area | 145 square metres (extended by 21 square metres)
Builder | EdwardRobert Builders Images | Ben Wrigley - November 2021
In the Media | Clarify Magazine: Recycling the ex-govie; Canberra Weekly: Canberra sustainable home: Blackburn House; RiotACT: Energy-busting makeover wins national sustainable housing award
Canberra Low Carbon Housing Challenge 2021 | See poster here (scan QR card on poster for more!)
This amazing home was once one of Canberra’s original ex-govies. The dysfunctional 1960s floor plan with a 1970s extension to the rear were rejigged, and we extended by just 21m2 to the front, to create a beautiful and functional 4 bed, 2 bath, 2 living home with a total floor area of 145m2.
Using solar passive principles and NatHERS thermal performance modelling the EER has been raised from somewhere between 1 and 3 stars to 7.8 stars! This super comfortable, energy efficient family home is now all-electric with a 10.4 kW PV system and electric car. It treads very lightly on our climate-changed planet. This is what is possible with many sad and tired, uncomfortable and dysfunctional homes across the country.
This project captured the hearts and minds of many Canberrans, as evidenced by the rapid responses to our recent Instagram ‘before-and-after’ posts about it (see screen captures below; typically our posts get between 100 and 200 likes, not close to 500).
Many people would have knocked this house down and started again, probably to build a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom 250 m2, 6 star home. With 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in just 145 m2 and a 7.8 star energy rating, this house is a fabulous example of why, in so many cases, renovation rather than rebuild is a great, cost-effective, low carbon option.
