'welcome to the jungle house' by CplusC enables sustainable living in sydney

situated in the australian city of darlington, sydney, CplusC has designed ‘welcome to the jungle house‘ for a family of five. developed with high aspirations of sustainability, the project aims to celebrate the local climate by working around an existing building to bring aspects of the outdoors into the indoor environment. in addition to this concept, the house has also been formed to provide an element of privacy, providing bespoke living areas for the client.

all images by michael lassman and ryan ng

occupying a small corner site, the house forms a bold character thanks to the spackled rendered façade. original openings have been re-framed by CplusC in rusting corten steel with new openings punched through the masonry walls in gloss white steel frames. these somewhat random elements of fenestration also allow greenery from within the house to spill out, offering a glimpse of the lush interior inside. alongside the existing elevation, a new addition has been made. separated by a sliver of transparency, the intervention creates a dialogue between new and old, past and present.

in an effort to bring nature into the living spaces, a fish pond has been positioned outside the children’s bedrooms, which also functions to feed a rooftop garden and planter beds. feeding off the bacteria-rich water, the family can cultivate fruit and vegetables from their own home with any excess water or rainwater draining to a 5000l underground storage tank where it is then filtered and pumped back to the fish pond for the cycle to continue. in addition to this, the new extension is also clad in solar panels, enabling a source of clean energy. 

inside the house, the interior is characterized by timber finishes, the exposed concrete structure, and of course, the green vegetation that can be seen throughout. in terms of dealing with the sydney climate, the rooftop garden in fact acts as thermal mass to insulate the upper floor, while the thermal mass of ground floor slab and boundary walls to create stack effect to cool upper floors. overall, by combining elements of nature and technology, CplusC intend to provide an optimum sustainable living environment to help towards not only reducing CO2 emissions, but also to enhance the well-being of the family.

UPDATE: this project has been shortlisted in the ‘completed buildings – house’ category at the 2019 world architecture festival.

project info:

project name: ‘welcome to the jungle house’

location: darlington, sydney, australia

architect: CplusC

photography: michael lassman and ryan ng

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom