Sustainable house in Raglan, New Zealand

Right back when they started to design and build this passive house at a rural, coastal location on New Zealand’s North Island, architectural designer Alice Gironella from Rubix Architecture and joiner Luke Lennox knew they were facing a challenging task. After all, this new build was earmarked for an open site that is exposed to powerful natural and climatic conditions. As a result, a high-performance building envelope had to be planned for and executed right from the beginning.

The designers aimed to achieve passive house standards by including solar water-heating panels on the roof, for example. As a result, the house is completely off-grid. Heat recovery is used in the ventilation system, and the home is kept warm in winter by underfloor heating. This combination provides for a comfortable indoor climate and is also particularly energy-efficient.

  • Architect: Alice Gironella, Rubix Architecture
  • Location: Raglan, close to Hamilton, North Island

Impressions of the construction work

Particular attention was paid to the design of the skillion roof at the planning stage. The architect specified the installation of INTELLO airtight membranes on the inside of the roof to ensure that the roof structure, which is closed to diffusion on the outside, is adequately protected against mould and moisture damage. This protects the structure against the formation of condensation and allows moisture to escape from the roof space, if required.

Terra Lana natural wool insulation was chosen for the home. INTELLO was also installed on the inside of the framing of the walls. This structure is protected on the outside by pro clima SOLITEX EXTASANA external sealing membranes.

More information about this project can be found at proclima.co.nz