Breezes everywhere

Kayleen and Peter McLean's home, 13 O’Connor St, Rosslea “When we moved into this house it was a typical, small, dark, fibro hot box. Major planning and renovations 10 years later and it’s so much more comfortable to live in,” says Kayleen. Their 1950s low set home has four bedrooms, two en suites and a bathroom and a large lounge and dining area. This is one of six homes NQ Dry Tropics will open on Sustainable House Day on Sunday September 11.

What’s remarkable about this home is the amount of ventilation Kayleen and Peter have managed to direct into areas of the home that don’t attract prevailing breezes. Clever positioning of custom made floor to ceiling timber louvre doors and louvre windows does the air conditioning for them. Modifying or knocking out walls has significantly benefited ventilation. Large sliding glass doors have been installed in preference to walls to close off parts of the house for extra privacy or comfort during rough or cold weather.

Skylights reduce the need for lights in traditionally darker areas of the home and lengths of frosted glass have been installed in walls to cleverly draw light from skylights into nearby rooms. Overhanging 1200 mm eves help to keep the house cool.

The roof is fitted with air vents and blanket insulation. On the western side of the house a 1200mm wide insulated awning over the kitchen window and insulation in the walls helps to further reduce heat from getting in to the house. The site of the lap pool, sheds (one for Kayleen and one for Peter) and gardens were chosen based on the sun’s movements and natural breezes.

Aesthetically this home shines. There are touches of Kayleen’s creativity everywhere from clay sculptured tiles to tasteful and colourful interior decoration. A productive raised bed vegetable garden makes the most of the sunshine by being at the back of the yard and a wonderful variety of native plants like ti-tree, callistemon and banksias dominate the nature strip and front yard.