Heron Hall, Living Building

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Design and construction of Heron Hall followed the stringent, sustainable design and performance requirements of the Living Building Challenge Standard. The two-storey primary hall is supported on 610mm thick seismically detailed, reinforced rammed earth shear walls with rigid insulation sandwiched in between. Salvaged and reclaimed timber was also used extensively. The building’s key sustainability features include generating all its energy requirements, collecting all its water needs and composting all organic waste materials.

Judge's comment:

Heron Hall is built in salvaged and reclaimed materials with rammed cementitious earth walls in the place of normal concrete. Having been designed to be self-sufficient in terms of energy and water, the house is an outstanding example of a building conceived and constructed with consideration for its environment and with sustainable practice as central to its design philosophy.