Dwelling Design Considerations

The terms of the Conservation Agreement included the provision that 1 hectare would be set aside, on which we can establish a dwelling. The logic is that the chances of the property being conserved over the long term are much higher if the property is financially viable. It can't be used for agriculture; so a rural residential property is the primary option.

The obvious site is on a low ridge several hundred metres east of the road, The views to the north, south and west are all excellent. But the region is subject to a great deal of wind, and the site is wind-exposed, particularly from the sector from south to north-west, and is sun-exposed to the north and west. By aligning the house along the ridge-line, the aspect would be close to 30 degrees east of north. The house-site is indicated in this map [LINK].

We intend (slowly) designing and developing a dwelling that will take advantage of the site, will reflect environmental principles, but will support permanent occupation. A first-cut dwelling-design is here [LINK].

There are a few challenges, e.g.:

We're intending to use this web-site as a place to record what we find out about various aspects of designing a dwelling to suit the site, such as:

Here are a couple of areas in which design compromises / trade-offs are likely to be necessary:


This is a page within the Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site, home-page here, and site-map here

Contact: Linda or Roger

Created: 7 October 2008; Last Amended: 13 October 2009