Architects and Solar House Day
4 September 2002


‘Developing a house type that maximises solar energy has been at the forefront of architectural endeavour in New South Wales’, said Ms Caroline Pidcock, President of The Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) NSW Chapter.

Commenting on the inaugural Solar House Day that is being held on Sunday 8 September, Ms Pidcock noted that it was way back in 1982 that the RAIA first gave an architecture award to a solar house.

Designed by architects Gareth Cole and Penny Rosier the house in Pennant Hills was called the Solar G2 and was commended by the jury for its ‘forceful commitment to solar technology as a major contributor to architectural design’.

Ms Pidcock noted that since then many architects have designed hundreds of solar houses across Australia, a more recent example are the Four Horizons Eco-lodges that were designed by Lindsay Johnston to rely completely on solar energy for all their energy needs and that succeeded well enough to win the Premiers Award in 1999.

‘and in this year’s architecture awards the jury found the range of buildings that reduce energy demands is widening,’

She pointed out that two very different building types were given awards, one that uses the technique of burying part of the building to minimise energy usage and the other in the hot, dry inland climate that uses dramatic ‘shower towers’ to provide down-draft evaporative cooling.

According to Ms Pidcock the future development of these types of buildings are at a critical stage with the drafting of new codes affecting energy ratings in housing by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB).

‘We must not prohibit fabulously innovative housing models with overly restrictive codes,’

‘It is better to spend more time carefully working through the details to ensure that the best set of measures is developed that will not only lift but encourage innovation and research in this critical area of building development,’ said Ms Pidcock. ENDS