Khandallah renovation


Khandallah, Wellington, 2010 This art deco box was uninsulated and had cold damp bedrooms on the south side. Living rooms were denied afternoon sun and outdoor living opportunities as a result of poor planning and a front entrance and master bedroom dominating the warm north west façade.


The passive solar ambitions of the owners were answered with a dedicated sunroom adjacent to the central living space, active heat harvesting using a fan and ducting which draws hot air through a rockbin filled with 24 tonnes of graded river boulders. The well insulated basement rockbin stores solar heat. The warm dry air is then ducted throughout the house using an automated SohoVentpac "Rockstar" thermostat control system. Located under a new sunspace extension, the rock bin has beeen filled with 12m3 of Otaki River boulders, acts as thermal store.The result after 12 months is uniform warmth and relative humidity down to 50 percent in bedrooms that were previously dank, with 70-80 percent humidity. Double glazing and insulation is installed in all upgraded spaces.