Romantic Resilience – Off Grid FZ House by Anderson Architecture
The idea of ‘off the grid’ living is imbued with a sense of romanticism. The allure of a reduced reliance on public infrastructure is perhaps defined by the opportunity to engage more deeply with the landscape through an intimate understanding of its resources. The self-sufficient outpost, however, can often be disadvantaged by the perception of complex knowledge needed to achieve the vision. With Off Grid FZ House, Anderson Architecture demonstrates that elegant, resilient, sustainable design is possible in the most challenging of environments with intelligent innovation and without prohibitive cost.
As a research and development opportunity for architect Simon Anderson, the design and construction of Off Grid FZ House is underpinned by a conscientious connection to the nature of the Blue Mountains bushland and embodies a holistic approach to sustainable design practice. The house, modest in both form and floor area, boasts several impressive credentials of environmentally sensitive design in addition to providing the occupants with independent on-site power generation, water collection and waste treatment.
The remote site, positioned on a prominent ridgeline, offers uninterrupted views across the lush Blue Mountain valleys. The trade-off for this paradise is the challenge of a location subjected to the highest of bushfire risk. The success of the house is contained in its resilience to this extreme climate condition – a resilience crafted by an active embrace of this risk in the design response. Fire protection measures are elegantly integrated within the fabric of the building to offer safe retreat in the bushfire prone landscape. What at first appears to be an elegant canopy over the outdoor living space also functions as a fire protection screen, an operable shutter capable of being lowered to secure the building when outside conditions become adverse.
The form is defined by two concrete pods capped with skillion roofs engaged in an opposing relationship to one another. The northward sloping roof over the living spaces optimises solar exposure with an array of solar panels. The southward sloping roof opens up the second half of the house – the sleeping quarters – to the sun to exploit the concrete structure as a means for passive temperature control. The finishing of the home supports the holistic sustainable design strategy by recycling trees felled on site, another bushfire preventative requirement, to be used throughout the interior. Timber joists and joinery present the natural wonder of the landscape at a small scale; the tones and textures of the material serve as an intimate connection to the beauty of the landscape outside.
The romance of this sustainable dwelling is not contingent on the low impact nature of its construction and occupation. The appeal is also in the resilient features of the building, integrated without aggression towards the environment and put to work for other meaningful functions that support the experience of the occupants. Off Grid FZ House not only presents a safe, secure retreat but does so with an understated celebration of the Australian landscape.
