IN FOCUS NORTH WATSON house
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The Machinery Shed
Having trawled umpteen houses on Sustainable House Day for ideas,
this retired couple built their green dream home using a potent mix of
design and technology. Now it’s time for their house to shine.
words Rachael Bernstone photography Sophie Seck
When Keith and Gillian Helyar decided to
build a new house in Canberra, they drew
plenty of inspiration from houses they visited
during Sustainable House Day. So it seems
fitting that they should open their home
to the public to share the knowledge they
accumulated during the course of designing,
building and occupying their environmentally
friendly abode.
“We weren’t intending to build initially,”
Keith Helyar says. “We looked around at
Canberra houses, but we couldn’t find what
we wanted. Then this block came up, and we
thought we could start from scratch here.”
“It was attractive because of the Mt
Majura Nature Reserve across the road, which
can’t be built out, and also because it’s easy
to get into the city,” explains Gillian. “Then
we visited a number of homes on Sustainable
House Day in Canberra and we gained a lot of
knowledge. It was really stimulating.”
“Sustainable House Day is great because
you can look at so many ideas in a short time,
and then adapt them for your own home,”
Keith adds. “We were conscious of the need
for northern exposure, but the concept of
building a house in Canberra with no heating
or cooling was foreign to us then.”
Working with Keith’s architect daughter,
Tricia Helyar, the couple have built a house
with passive design measures including
orientation along an east-west axis, careful
placement of double-glazed Rylock windows,
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IN FOCUS NORTH WATSON house
Soaking up the sun
with a Hills Endless Solar
evacuated tube system
with 250L electric booster,
and a grid connected,
Solartech 2800W PV
system (expandable to
4200W) creating up
to 19kWh/day.
extra insulation in the walls and roof,
concrete floors and concrete block-lined
walls for thermal mass. It also has shading
and overhangs to protect the windows in
summer, high-level windows in the living
space that allow winter sun to enter, and cross
ventilation along the north-south hallway
that enables the building to breathe.
Active environmental systems boost
its sustainable credentials, including a grey
water recycling system; rainwater collection
for reuse in toilets, washing machines, an
external sink, garden taps, and as cold water
in showers; a evacuated tube hot water
system; and photovoltaic cells that supply
power to the house and feed the grid.
“Keith and Gllian spent more than 10 per
cent of their budget on active environmental
systems,” says architect Tricia Helyar. “Often
those elements are omitted during the
construction stage because of cost concerns,
and because they can be added later, so their
commitment to installing them at the outset
was commendable.”
The couple’s enthusiasm for the project
hasn’t dimmed since they moved in: drawing
on his expertise as a former agricultural
scientist, Keith takes daily temperature
readings both outside and inside the house,
and has amassed more than a year’s worth of
data to analyse its performance. “In heat wave
conditions, we can maintain temperatures
about 10 degrees below the under-eave
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temperature on the southern side of the
house,” he says.
“But we found it difficult to believe
we would have no need for heating, so we
installed some heating.” Under-tile electrical
heating was installed to both bathrooms,
study, and the southern floor areas in five
zones, each with thermostat and controller.
Under tile heating was chosen as it provides
rapid response heat to reduce tile chill in
selected areas, without heating the entire
slab.
“Sometimes we need extra cooling at
the eastern end, where we have ceiling fans
installed,” Gillian adds.
“I empathise with the person who said
that a solar passive house needs active
occupants,” Keith laughs. “If it’s important
to have a draught, you need to make sure the
windows are open, and you need to manage
the curtains and blinds to moderate the
temperature inside.”
“We love the way the house functions,
and we like the idea of managing it,” Gillian
adds. “It doesn’t bother us that we have to
control the windows, doors and shading.
There is a certain pride that we don’t have
to flick a switch to turn on air-conditioning
to keep cool.
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IN FOCUS NORTH WATSON house
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On the north side of the
house 900mm eaves keep
the sun out in summer,
with support frames for
additional shading as
required. Hopper windows
at the high point of the
ceiling allow venting of
hot air. Internally, Kresta’s
insulated cellular
honeycomb-style blinds,
some with blockout (east
& west), sit within the
window frame reducing
air leakage.
“We generate more energy than we use
now,” she continues. “We got $500 back on
our last energy bill and $400 in the previous
quarter, so we don’t have to feel guilty about
using some electricity, which is why we’d
prefer to use electric space heaters instead
of gas appliances.”
Another attribute that sets this home
apart from its neighbours is the incorporation
of adaptable design features, influenced
by Gillian’s work as a physiotherapist.
“I think that houses should be designed for
all ages and abilities,” she says. “I’ve seen so
many people who have had to move out of
their house, or don’t cope very well after an
accident.”
Their home is without steps – both
external doors and the showers are on grade,
and 1100mm wide corridors and 900mm
wide doorways facilitate circulation. Power G
points are 600mm high instead of being at On the shady southern side
of the house is a plant area
floor level, and freestanding hand basins and comprising two 2500 litre
dual-height kitchen benches make access a rainwater tanks, subsurface
greywater system, compost
breeze. In addition, the flexible floorplan can and an external wash area.
be altered should the Helyar’s needs change Rendered Exinflex poly-
styrene panels by RMax
in future. The guest wing can be reconfigured (www.rmax.com.au), which
as a separate dwelling for a live-in carer, or gives high levels of insulation
with no thermal mass, and
converted into two bedrooms if new owners
Rockcote paint system are
should require additional accommodation. used for south-facing walls.
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The kitchen boasts a
3.5-star dishwasher,
induction cook top and
cabinetry hand-crafted
by the Helyars. The
concrete slab on ground
has sub floor and edge
slab insulation (www.
wafflepod.com).

Having shown about 300 people through

I think that houses should their home at last year’s Sustainable House
be designed for all ages and Day, Keith and Gillian are looking forward to
this year’s event. “There were a lot of positive
abilities. comments about the front room, because it’s
light and airy, with views to the mountain,
“These measures don’t add much to the
which results in a sense of openness,” Gillian
cost, but they do require a rethinking of the
says. “We gained so much ourselves from
ways things are done,” Gillian says. “For
participating in Sustainable House Day,
example, the electrician didn’t want to install
and we are very keen to get the message out
the power points at the height we wanted
about the sorts of things that are important
them, and the builder wasn’t sure you could
in a house.”
build a hobless shower, so mistakes were
made when the concrete slabs were poured.”
for more information
These atypical inclusions demanded
• House designer: Tricia Helyar Architect
careful management during the building
www.architricia.com.au
phase, with the Helyars making daily site
• Builder: Craig Golding, Goldings Carpentry
visits. Keith and Gillian also got their hands
• This year Sustainable House Day
dirty by constructing joinery for the kitchen,
is on Sunday 12 September. Go to
bathroom and guest wing, installing concrete
sustainablehouseday.com for more
block insulation within the gyprock walls,
information.
sealing the spaces around window and door
frames, and painting the entire house.

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