Comments on: Green House in Melbourne by Zen Architects

By: April Nicholas

April Nicholas — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:47:06 +0000

Amazing!! I live in Melbourne and would really like to look into buiding an eco friendly sustainable house / living space. Can you point me in the right direction of where to start??

Many thanks. April

By: Shelley Crain

Shelley Crain — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:46:15 +0000

I understand the idea of wanting natural living to include relaxing in few or no clothes when in your own private space. It just takes some careful consideration and perhaps consultation with the architects to get the best of both worlds. The glass is part of a passive solar heating collection and distribution system, and reduces the need for electrical lighting within the home, so it is important to the eco-friendliness of the structure. Passive solar has to reach a certain amount of the floor space I believe, so in addition to blinds it should be possible to use something like rice paper screens a few feet back from the glass to create a translucent faux wall to block private spaces without blocking all of the ambient light. They could also be folded to allow the view.
Also orientation, elevation, etc on the lot can mean the glass walls are not toward the sidewalk. And heck…maybe if the neighbors could look through all of my walls I would stick to that diet/workout plan I keep thinking about!

By: Brian Lang

Brian Lang — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:51:43 +0000

You could replace the clear glass with the glass that goes opaque at the flick of a switch. Flick the switch again and it’s clear again…

By: Experience

Experience — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:52:32 +0000

I like the floor to ceiling glass. Why would you want to hide yourself away from everyone anyway. And as well as that have you heard of blinds? I choose light over privacy and I like this build.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:48:43 +0000

Very well thought out house i think. I like how it fits in with the city block as well.

By: earthsmile

earthsmile — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:18:17 +0000

Nice design… but puzzling in it’s overuse of floor to ceiling glass walls. What about privacy ? My home is my inner sanctum. I oftentimes walk around without clothes on at home. I can’t grasp this ‘fishbowl’ concept that so many modern designs embrace… which is to say that there’s so much glass used that the inhabitants are in effect the ‘Fish’ in a giant ‘Fishbowl’.

By: earthsmile

earthsmile — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:14:40 +0000

Sure… nice design, in a way… but I’m constantly puzzled by these floor to ceiling glass walls used so predominantly in so many modern house designs lately. What’s the deal here ? My home is my inner sanctum. I often walk around without the benefit of clothes there. Living in a glass house, like this one and so many others, defeats the notion of PRIVACY. A home that doesn’t provide for such, seems puzzling to me. So sorry… I’d give this design a grade of ‘F’.