K2 Apartments

In this era of ‘green is cool’, we often forget that ecological sustainability isn’t just about the natural environment. An ecosystem is more than just an environment, and it is also more than just a sum of its parts. So a truly sustainable project must also give equal consideration to social and economic sustainability, as well as human and intergenerational sustainability. Which is why the K2 Apartments project is a sustainable development. In this project, the intentional emphasis on tangible landscape, indoor air quality, natural ventilation, pedestrian rather than vehicular traffic, and accessible communal spaces was not just a means to a ‘green star’ end: it wasn’t just a pragmatic gesture, allowing the development to wear an eco-friendly label. What the K2 Apartments project reminds us is that ‘sustainable development’ is essentially an anthropocentric as well as an environmental exercise, and no development can honestly call itself sustainable unless its intended users can sustain the idea of living with, in and around it.

Designed by Melbourne firm DesignInc, the K2 Apartments project is a housing development of 96 one- and two-bedroom units, set out in four connected buildings over a 4800m2 site. The Victorian Office of Housing instigated the design competition for the project, and set some ambitious but practical objectives: minimise greenhouse emissions and water consumption, while maximising the use of reusable and recycled materials, and thereby set a new benchmark for ecologically – and socially – sustainable medium-density housing in an urban context. And that is just what DesignInc have done.

The four buildings that make up the project are linked by a green spine that not only creates shared and private courtyards for the residents, it also encourages a communal awareness among the tenants, and promotes the sustainable functions of the building. The volumes are carefully planned in terms of height and relative positioning so as to ensure full, year-round access to the northern sun for all apartments. To this end, the northern aspect also features sun-loving balconies and solidwalled bedrooms, while on the more sheltered southern aspect, an opposite construction comes into play: the walls promote circulation, and feature integrated privacy screens instead of solid thermal-mass construction.

The development as a whole operates in two ‘modes’: in Summer Mode, cross ventilation allows for optimum cooling, although minimum ventilation during the day allows the apartments to retain cool air, so that warmer air can rise and escape at night through open windows and ventilation fans. The façades are angled so as to mitigate the effects of direct midsummer sunlight, and exposed concrete ceilings plus heavy masonry walls form a temperature-regulating large thermal mass. In Winter Mode, this same thermal mass helps to retain warmth within the development: a sustainable way to cut back on heating needs and, of course, increase comfort levels for the residents of each apartment. Windows are ample and double-glazed to retain heat on the sunny northern aspect; and are otherwise limited on the south, east and west façades, to prevent midwinter heat loss. Building materials were chosen for their low long-term impact on both the environment and those who will come in contact with them every day. Everything from the construction phase (the high fly ash content, in situ concrete, styrofoam-insulated precast concrete panels, recycled and sustainably managed timber, recycled bricks and recycled marine timber pylons) through to the low VOC paints and water-efficient tapware, was chosen to make the least possible impact – the tiniest possible footprint in terms of greenhouse, energy and toxins.

But this is all relatively ‘passive’ energy efficiency, at least compared to the active power and water infrastructure of the project. For starters, the angle of the façade and roof was chosen so as best to accommodate solar panelling and shade the levels below. The photovoltaic setup comprises a 22kW grid-interactive solar system, as well as a 4,400 litre solar hot water system. Add to this a 6,000 litre greywater recycling plant, and 80,000 litre rainwater collection system, and the K2 Apartments have the technology to keep on selfsustaining – and, subsequently, sustaining the environment and the inhabitants – for as long as the sun may shine and the rain may fall. +

1 The carefully planned volumes of the K2 Apartments respond to sunlight and ventilation concerns. The apartments soak in as much Northern sun as possible, with balconies and solid walled bedrooms; while circulation and permeable privacy screens are emphasised on the Southern façade. 2 Sustainability also entails social sustainability, which requires the users and community to take ownership of, maintain, and continue to use the space. The double-pronged approach to sustainability was key to DesignInc’s approach to the project. 3 to 5 The angles of the façade were chosen to best accommodate solar panels, to shade the levels below, and to deny the midsummer sun in living spaces.

PHOTOGRAPHY by David Wierzbowski, Peter Hyatt, Martin Saunders