The Affordable Australian

FOR ALL

Houses must be built to be accessible for all from the start. The Affordable Australian demonstrates that accessibility does not preclude affordability.

Fully accessible
Nowdays families are much more likely to care for disabled children in-house full-time. Elderly people much more likely to remain in their own houses. The Affordable Australian achieves internal and external wheelchair circulation from day one; retro-fitting handheld shower and grabrails is easy.

Affordable
Modular construction and waste minimisation reduces construction costs. Energy efficiency measures and siting reduces running costs. The Column and Lintel system enables roofing commencement earlier, weather protection sooner and enables lock-up to be achieved quickly. This will reduce site theft and vandalism.

Long-Life Loose-Fit
Bedroom 3 could permanently be the ‘family room’ as many families will be a couple with only one child. Bedroom 1 could
become a home office. As residents age or become emptynester/lone person households, disused rooms can be shut off reducing utility bills. The ceiling system means that the internal walls can be moved around without needing to replaster.

AUSTRALIAN-NESS

Australian-ness is an ephemeral indoor-outdoor connectivity harnessing space and light, not ‘australiana’. The Affordable Australian is designed to read as a homestead’s collection of shed-like forms.

Shielding the front façade edge with a ‘striped’ roof covering instantly evokes the heritage of earlier Australian single- and double-fronted suburban (workers cottage). Double doors opening to an enclosed verandah/ gallery recollect the sleepouts or stables of times past in outback homesteads.

Standard ‘aussie tin’ conveys an ambience of Australian history.

Suggestions of wide open aussie spaces are created by the open plan ‘public’ pavilion housing kitchen/ living/ dining. Properly sized (bed)rooms and laundry facilities incorporated directly into the bathroom results in uncluttered space. Although the zonal distinction between community, public and private is clear in the overall layout, these functions are distorted at the edges by verandahs.

Advantages of The Affordable Australian

• Environmentally friendly
• Socially sustainable
• Energy efficiency
• Minimal palette of materials
• Ease of construction
• Flexibility of materials and finishes
• Waste minimisation