A Light-Filled, Sustainable Family Hideaway

Designed by Simone prior to joining reimagined habitat

This SIPs home renovation in Australia transformed a modest brick veneer house in Macleod into a bright, healthy and high performance family home designed for long-term comfort and energy efficiency.

Nestled amongst the leafy, tree-lined streets of Macleod, the project combined a carefully designed upper-storey extension with a comprehensive deep retrofit to dramatically improve the home’s thermal performance, indoor air quality and everyday liveability while maintaining the warmth and character of the original house.

A key part of the renovation was the use of SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) for the new upper-storey addition. SIPs are a high performance construction system made from an insulating core sandwiched between structural boards, creating panels that provide exceptional insulation, improved airtightness and reduced thermal bridging.

Compared to many conventional building systems, SIPs can significantly improve thermal performance and help maintain more stable indoor temperatures throughout the year. They also support faster and more efficient construction methods. Many of these principles align closely with the topics explored in our articles about Passive House design principles and high performance homes.

The SIPs-constructed second storey allowed the project to achieve a much higher level of comfort and energy efficiency while maintaining a lightweight and practical construction approach suited to the existing home.

Throughout the original brick veneer house, insulation was retrofitted and high performance double glazing installed to reduce heat loss, minimise draughts and improve thermal comfort across all seasons. These upgrades transformed the way the home feels and performs on an everyday basis.

A Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system was also integrated into the project to support healthier indoor air quality and more stable internal temperatures. The HRV system continuously supplies fresh, filtered air while recovering warmth from outgoing air, helping create a healthier indoor environment for the family year-round. This approach aligns closely with the ideas explored in our articles about healthy homes and indoor air quality and condensation, ventilation and thermal bridging.

Natural light plays a central role throughout the renovation. Carefully positioned glazing supports passive solar performance while creating bright and uplifting living spaces connected closely to the surrounding garden.

At the heart of the home is an entertainer’s kitchen featuring charming café windows that open directly to a secluded outdoor area, strengthening the connection between indoor and outdoor living and creating an inviting setting for shared meals, gatherings and relaxed weekends at home.

This renovation demonstrates how performance-driven design and thoughtful construction systems such as SIPs can transform an existing home into a modern, energy-efficient family sanctuary without sacrificing warmth, functionality or character.

Builder: Whitehead Construction

Photography & Videography: Miles Real Estate

Construction Type: Existing brick veneer with SIPs upper-storey extension
Energy Efficiency: 7-Star NatHERS

What are SIPs?

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) are a high performance building system made from an insulating core sandwiched between structural boards. The panels act as both the structure and insulation layer, helping create homes with excellent thermal performance, improved airtightness and reduced thermal bridging.

Compared to many conventional construction methods, SIPs can help reduce unwanted heat loss and improve year-round indoor comfort while supporting faster and more efficient construction.

For this Macleod renovation, SIPs allowed the new upper-storey extension to achieve a much higher level of energy efficiency and thermal stability while maintaining a lightweight and practical construction approach.