ARCHITECTURE | INTERIORS | PASSIVHAUS
Are you dreaming of a home that sits comfortably in its surroundings and reflects the way you and your family truly live? We believe every project is unique and deserves a thoughtful, considered response. At Ertha Design, we listen closely, shaping each home around your lifestyle, your values, and the natural character of your site.
Thoughtful architecture has the power to enrich everyday life. We design nature-inspired homes that feel calm, healthy, and enduring. Spaces shaped by light, air, and natural materials, where living well feels effortless and deeply connected to the environment around you.
Mellissa Aves
Principal Architect
Drawing on over 20 years’ of experience in the industry, both in private practice as well as well-respected Australian offices in QLD & VIC, Mellissa is a registered architect and a certified Passive House designer.
Mellissa has been designing and documenting Energy Efficient & Certified Passive Homes since 2019, including Australia's first PH certified Hempcrete house in Victoria. She is passionate about sharing the benefits that passive house can bring not only to cooler climates, but also to the warmer, more humid subtropical regions of Australia. By adapting these proven construction technologies, we can not only create more thermally comfortable spaces but reduce running costs, carbon emissions, mold, condensation and improve overall health outcomes.
Mellissa takes the time to tune into individual client needs and has the long held belief that our built and natural environment play a crucial role in both our physical and mental well being.
She's passionate about her community & lifestyle here in Queensland and would love to see everyone given the opportunity to live and work in places that replenish and fill the soul.
HOLISTIC APPROACH
We take an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to design, drawing on the evolving building sciences, Passive House principles, and insights from health and building biology, biophilic design, and environmental conservation. Each discipline informs the other, allowing us to create homes that are both deeply considered and quietly high-performing.
We believe a home should be a sanctuary. Our approach is guided by the idea of living well, supporting the health and comfort of you and your family while also respecting and strengthening the local environment and community around you.
If you’re looking to create a home that is more energy-efficient, healthy, and sustainable, we’d love to talk with you about how these principles can be thoughtfully woven into your project.
WE LISTEN, COLLABORATE AND COMMUNICATE
The true success of any project comes from collaboration and a shared vision. It begins with the relationship between you and your architect and extends to every consultant, craftsperson, and supplier involved. Together, we help assemble a team that is supportive, open, and genuinely invested in creating something meaningful, shaping not just a home, but a brighter future.
At Ertha Design, we’re committed to a deeply personalised and collaborative design process. We listen carefully, challenge ideas thoughtfully, and work closely with you to explore what’s possible, pushing boundaries where it matters, and shaping a home that tells your story, whether big or small.
Passive house institute 2024
PASSIVHAUS OR PASSIVE HOUSE
Passive house is an internationally recognised, performance-based energy standard in construction, aimed at reducing a buildings energy consumption whilst improving the health and comfort outcomes for occupants and the longterm durability of your home. Passive house certification, as an extra step, provides a rigorous, independent assessment to then ensure these design principles have been implemented successfully on paper and later on-site.
The five principles of the Passive house standard are:
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Airtightness
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Thermal insulation
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Mechanical ventilation heat recovery
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High performance windows
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Thermal bridge free construction
When implemented correctly, the Passive house criteria is achieved:
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Thermal comfort - Indoor air temperature of between 20-25 deg
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Heating and cooling demand - 15kWh/m2/yr or load of 10W/m2 (reduced energy consumption and cheaper energy bills)
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Humidity levels - approximately 60% relative humidity at 25°C
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Airtightness - Maximum reading of 0.6 ACH50 with on-site verification
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Energy demand - Maximum Primary Energy Renewable (PER) demand of 60kWh annually per square metre of living space
In our practice at Ertha Design, we have made Passive House the backbone of our design philosophy, applying these principles to all our designs, with or without certification and within the confines of budget. It is our goal to inform and guide our clients where we can to enable you to reap the benefits of building better for health, comfort and also the longevity of your home.
PASSIVE SOLAR DESIGN
Passive solar design goes hand in hand with passive house, considering orientation, thermal mass, insulation and glazing size to work together to take advantage of natural sources of heating and cooling, such as solar access and cross-flow ventilation.
Not all sites or climate zones lend themselves to optimal levels of human comfort all year round. So whilst we love to harness the natural energies that mother nature has on offer, unlike passive solar design, Passive house design does not rely on having optimal solar orientation, thermal mass and cross ventilation to achieve high levels of comfort and energy efficiency, making it the perfect choice for sites that don't have a desirable northerly aspect.
BIOPHILIC DESIGN
There is a synergistic interplay between planetary and personal well being with our natural and built environments shaping us as individuals just as we too can shape and influence our natural and built environments. Humans have a long history of modifying the environment to suit our own needs, much at the sacrifice of other species, ecosystems and our own spiritual connection.
To reverse decades of over consumption and degradation, we should look beyond the built form and consider the site, the flora and fauna as one complete entity that co-evolves and thrives in unison. We take a boundary to boundary approach, exploring opportunities on your site to restore local ecosystems through mindful landscaping. Healthy ecosystems help to protect people, optimise living conditions and safeguard a stable and biodiverse future.
Our influence as individuals has the collective power to generate positive change in our communities, and this starts at our own front door. At Ertha design, we are inspired by natures beauty, self preservation and balance, designing spaces that mutually respect and foster a deeper connection with nature, restoring tranquillity and purpose.
LONGEVITY & ADAPTABILITY
Our designs, choice of materials and construction processes need to promote long-term durability and resilience against mother nature, whether it be fire, flood, cyclone or drought... or simply, to require less ongoing maintenance and repair.
A sustainable structure is built with longevity in mind, choosing products which ideally have a long lifespan of ideally 50-100 years. The more often a building element needs repair or replacement increases the overall resource use and carbon footprint of that home. Elements which cannot be made to withstand long periods of occupancy should be selected based upon their environmental credentials and ability to be recycled or repurposed.
Universal design aims to make spaces more accessible, regardless of age, disability or other factors. Recent changes in the building code have now recognised the importance of providing flexible and equitable access to our buildings, enabling aging in place and more opportunity for inter-generational care.
Trends come and go, as do people. Whilst every home is unique and personalised, ideally it will have widespread appeal and be flexible enough to meet the changing needs of different people at different times throughout a buildings lifespan.
LUXURY, with a conscience...
Permanence and timeless appeal inspires us to protect and preserve that which is of high value to both us and future generations, safeguarding a site's carbon footprint over time.
A project which brings with it a healthy budget can translate into a well considered, well executed home, curated to the highest of standards that Ertha design strives to produce.
Our process can be as rigorous and tailored to meet your needs as you like. You can either become heavily involved in the creative process or take a back seat while we unearth the intricacies and creative potential of your project...
