Waffle House
Location | Weston, ACT Completed | June 2023
EER | 7.2 stars (started at 3 stars)
Predicted 60% reduction in operational energy needed for heating and cooling, despite the house getting bigger
Total energy use down by 71% across first full year
Area | 162 m² (started at 143 m², extended by 19 m²); existing carport and garage: 76 m²; block 713 m²
Builder | Taylor Knowles Images | Ben King - January 2025
To quote our clients in 2020: “We have thought about renovating/reconfiguring the house ever since we moved in 11 years ago and have so many ideas but don't know what is the best bang for buck and don't know if it's better to work around all of the existing house compromises or to knockdown and rebuild to get exactly what we want.”
The existing 1960s home had been extended oddly before they bought it. The layout wasn’t practical or efficient with lots of wasted space (and energy for heating and cooling) and very little storage. Our clients had done a great job of reconfiguring the kitchen and dining areas and coped with the rest of the home’s impracticalities while their kids were small (see the laundry off the main bedroom!).
We were confident that we could transform the home into one that will comfortably house their teens to young adults (with increasing independence) well into the future so advised against a knockdown rebuild. Building a new home would have cost 1.5 times as much and destroyed much of the existing garden, not to mention wasted loads of material in the existing home — all of the structural timber framing (floors, walls, roof), the bricks, roof tiles, the foundations and more were reused rather than discarded. Renovation was by far the most cost, and carbon, effective way to go (despite what many others in the industry will tell you). Beware the builders and designers who love a clean slate stripped of any construction challenges and biodiversity — are they thinking of your best interests, the environment’s or only their own?
Further future proofing: there is potential for a door to be added before the new laundry and a kitchenette to be incorporated into the multi-room. A euro laundry could be incorporated into the main kitchen or study. Effectively this house could function as two-homes-in-one down the track. Its critical we start thinking of creative ways to use existing homes. Cohousing arrangements need to become more common. They build climate and social resilience — good things for everyone.
The kitchen had previously been renovated so we protected that during the design and build — it was refreshed rather than replaced. Moving the bathrooms and laundry, and adding the glorious northern window seat and entry zone to the main living area has totally transformed the front part of the home. We also created excellent connection through to the backyard and new rear deck. This house is now a flexible sanctuary for a maturing family.
Floor plans above: 1. first extension, a few decades ago, before our clients; 2. kitchen/dining rejig by our clients; 3. Light House concept design; 4. Light House plan as constructed
