Australia is a big country. It’s great to look locally and internationally for design inspiration, but as we look at all of these fantastic designs, it is important to keep in mind that (hopefully) those examples were designed specifically for the climatic conditions they were in.
As we prepare your design, and tailor it to you as a client, our other ‘client’ is the site. There are many aspects to consider when responding to a site, and a major one is the local climate. Being a Melbourne based design practice, this article will focus on this city, but the same principles apply to any site, anywhere.
The first step is to identify the climate zone. Melbourne is in an Oceanic climate (Köppen classification Cfb) or mild temperate zone.
Figure 1: Temperate Oceanic Climate Köppen Classification (Cfb)
The map in Figure 1, starts to highlight how unique climate specific design can be. Using Melbourne’s latitude to find similar climates on the same latitude, shows us only two regions, the North Island of New Zealand and the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina. (If you are looking for international inspiration, maybe this can help narrow the search for architectural examples.)
The reason for climate responsive design, is to work with the climate to maintain comfortable temperatures in the home, and minimise the use of heating and cooling systems. Therefore, having a solid understanding of the climate you’re in, is important to achieve this.
Melbourne’s climate zone has four distinct seasons; with spring and autumn being ideal, and summer and winter exceeding human comfort range. With this knowledge, passive design techniques can be implemented to respond climatically. This can be done be strategically placing and sizing windows to maximise passive solar heating and cross-ventilation for passive cooling. Other design techniques that respond to the climate are; orientation and siting of the building, shading elements, insulation, minimising east and west facing walls and the use of thermal mass construction.
The concept of ‘designing for climate’ is inherent to any building designer and will naturally begin from the concept stage of any design. But the expertise of a local building designer, who knows the local climate system intimately, has invaluable knowledge that has been gained by experience and more importantly, by living in the city that design is in.