Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

An Australian Architect's Simple Brick House With Impressive Green Roof

An Australian Architect's Simple Brick House With Impressive Green Roof

With a simple brick house on a tiny lot, an Australian architect shows that style needn't be fussy or expensive.

A few years ago, Emilio Fuscaldo and his partner, Anna Krien, needed to move, and they figured they would rent a house where they could live more sustainably. But when Krien suggested they buy a vacant lot in Coburg, a suburb north of Melbourne, Australia, Fuscaldo was surprised.



Emilio Fuscaldo sits in the garden outside the brick house that he designed for himself and his partner, Anna Krien, on a small subdivided lot in Coburg, a suburb north of Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Nic Granleese.

"She sent me this picture of a green square," says Fuscaldo, who founded the Melbourne practice Nest Architects in 2007. "But when I went to have a look, she was right. My architectural ears pricked up. The block was the perfect orientation facing north, with a laneway out the back."



Fuscaldo describes the 860-square-foot, single-story house as a "beach shack in the suburbs." Photo by Nic Granleese.

"We had a lot of ideas in the planning stage," Fuscaldo adds. "We had to build something economically, but we wanted a fully sustainable house that doesn’t compromise on anything. Eventually we came up with a single-story design with two bedrooms and a green roof."



Fuscaldo and Krien found an old workbench and used the wood to create the counter around the kitchen sink. Photo by Nic Granleese.

That decision epitomized the couple’s priorities. Ask most new homeowners how many rooms they want, and most will probably opt for a minimum of three bedrooms and two bathrooms. But for Krien and Fuscaldo, two bedrooms were more than enough.



Salvaged bricks were used inside and outside the house. Krien describes the lone bathroom as "half nightclub, half swimming pool change room," and says it is her favorite space in the house. Photo by Nic Granleese.

"I guess if you were worried about intimacy it could be a problematic house," Krien says. "The bathroom’s not completely sealed. But that’s small living; you have to learn to live with each other. I don’t understand those houses where you don’t actually know where anyone is."



Most of the furniture in the house was purchased secondhand, or salvaged from the side of the road. Photo by Nic Granleese.

The house has four rooms-the two bedrooms, a bathroom, and an expansive living area with large north-facing French doors that flood the house with warmth and light. The kitchen occupies one corner, and a laundry is tucked behind a curtain. The only internal door leads to the bathroom, which Krien describes as "half nightclub, half swimming pool change room." It is her favorite room in the house.



At over 500 square feet, the house’s green roof may be its most powerful-and most expensive-environmental statement. It cost $8,000 to waterproof, and $7,000 to landscape. Water from the roof feeds the toilet and the garden’s watering system, and the garden itself insulates the house and keeps gas bills low in winter. Photo by Nic Granleese.

The house had to be small – the land occupies the back half of a large, subdivided lot. The original owner still lives in the front half. It means the formal entrance is through their neighbor’s yard, but Krien and Fuscaldo don’t see that as a disadvantage.

"It has that casual Australian feeling of ‘coming ’round the back,’" he says. "I love it as an entrance, as opposed to that formal ‘stand-at-the-front-door-and-adjust-your-tie’ feeling."

Opting for a subdivided lot also enabled Fuscaldo and Krein to afford property on the relatively modest salaries they earn as an architect and freelance writer, respectively. "Our friends are mostly buying in the country," Krien says. "We’d committed to renting for the rest of our lives. We never thought we could afford to buy in a place like Coburg."

Coburg lies just past the fringe of Melbourne’s trendy inner suburbs. As the tram heads north from the city center, the wine bars, live-music venues and record shops start to dry up and are replaced by Middle Eastern bakeries and tire stores. The location offers a quick trip to the city on public transit, "and it has baklava," Krien says.



This is the first house in Victoria whose structural timber is entirely Forestry Stewardship Council-certified. Fuscaldo sourced the wood himself, visiting hardware outlets around Melbourne, telling the builder where to get the best materials, and double-checking the integrity of the timber when it showed up. Photo by Nic Granleese.

The couple were on a rail-thin budget, but rather than blow what they had on fancy fixtures or more rooms, they put their money where their values were-on sustainability, every step of the way. This is the first house in Victoria whose structural timber is entirely Forestry Stewardship Council-certified. Fuscaldo sourced the wood himself, visiting hardware outlets around Melbourne, telling the builder where to get the best materials, and double-checking the integrity of the timber when it showed up.

"You can be sustainable at every point in the project," Fuscaldo says, "and you shouldn’t get railroaded because something is too difficult, or a builder says ‘don’t,’ or ‘I couldn’t,’ or you just turn up and something hasn’t been done. But be prepared for some heated conversations with contractors."

The rest of the wood is recycled-the timber used for the bathroom counter came from an old bowling alley, and the eaves were salvaged from two other buildings.

The walls are double brick, with a cavity in between for insulation, and the bricks themselves are recycled. "They come with a patina," Fuscaldo says. "They conjure up memories of a ’70s childhood."

All the paint and coatings are low-VOC. The windows are double-glazed with an argon gas interlayer. The floors are polished concrete, with gas-powered hydronic heating built into the slab.

"My favorite thing is lying there on the warm concrete with the sun coming through the windows," Fuscaldo says. "I love that the floor is a viable piece of furniture."



An interior shot of the house. Photo by Nic Granleese.

At over 500 square feet, the house’s green roof may be its most powerful-and most expensive-environmental statement. It cost $8,000 to waterproof, and $7,000 to landscape. Water from the roof feeds the toilet and the garden’s watering system, and the garden itself insulates the house and keeps gas bills low in winter. It also means there’s no need for any artificial cooling in the summer.

Inside, Fuscaldo was keen to avoid joinery, where possible. "What’s the point of building a sustainable house then filling it with chipboard?" he asks. And besides, Krien hates cupboards with doors, preferring to have things out in the open. So in the kitchen, the couple found an old workbench and refurbished it themselves to make counter space and a sink. "You don’t look at this corner and think, there’s a small kitchen," Fuscaldo says. "You think, there’s a beautiful piece of furniture."

Almost all the furniture in the house is recycled, or was picked up for free from the side of the road. Even the toilet was a gift from a friend.

"This house has an atmosphere already-we didn’t have to inject it, it came with it," Fuscaldo says. "We didn’t cover up the labor involved; we wanted to have the beauty of the handmade. And I wanted to make sure that we made a statement that architecture isn’t about the appliance or the joinery, or the kitchen; it’s about an atmosphere, a way of living. There’s this idea of materials becoming imbued with a story."

"Clients come to me, a lot of them, they’re not super-wealthy, and I can see where they can make more sustainable choices if they compromise on other things," he adds. "I’ve been bringing them here to show them that you don’t need that flashy kitchen; if sustainability is a priority, then try thinking of it in another way. It can be beautiful, and handmade. I’m trying to show that you can afford it, you just have to direct your money in a different way."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
×