Bron (2012)

Kinglake

Bron's (weatherboard home was destroyed during the fires in 2009. She and her family thought long and hard about their options for rebuilding, they wanted to rebuild something both strong and beautiful. Bron took on the mighty task of being an owner builder and ended up with a stunning result.

Bron and her family settled on using rammed earth as the primary structural material of the home. They chose rammed earth because of both the appealing, warm look of the material as well as its fire resistance. Another big advantage of rammed earth is its high thermal mass Bron's home stays cool in summer and warm in the winter!

The family also put  a lot of thought into what went around the outside of their house, with no flammable substances around the perimeter of the house. The window frames are all aluminium on the outside and pyrex glass was used on windows that came close to horizontal surfaces.  

In order to control the temperature of the house without relying on air conditioning or heating systems, eves on the north side of the house were used to protect the rammed earth walls from the heat of the sun. Bron also used the stack effect with windows under the ceiling on opposite sides of the room to encourage air flow.

Thanks to a lot of thought and time and careful design, Bron and her family have a gorgeous and strong

home in beautiful Kinglake. Thanks Bron for sharing

it with Green Cross Australia.