The future of heritage houses: Today's homes will be judged on sustainability and longevity

Heritage housing is treasured in Australia for its old-world charm, but what “heritage” will look like in the future is now being debated.

Homes of the past are rich in ornate detail. Homes built today, and standing strong a century from now, will be judged less on decoration and more on performance. Sustainability and the longevity that comes with it are defining attributes.

Designing for future heritage value pushes against short-term thinking in housing development.

Liam Wallis, the founder of boutique developer Hip V. Hype, says heritage is less about age and more about enriching neighbourhoods.

“We have a responsibility for how those buildings contribute to and enhance the city,” he says. “For me, it comes down to how well any given design has captured the essence of place.”

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The word “heritage” refers to the places, values and traditions that “capture where we’ve come from, where we are now and give context to where we are headed as a community”, says the federal government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

From stately Federation manors to ornate Victorian terraces, handsome Edwardian residences, and groovy mid-century apartment blocks, heritage homes are a window to the Australia of the time.

Tomorrow’s heritage homes will also reveal the social milieu of today. Eco-conscious inclusions, such as insulation for thermal stability, smart appliances, low-carbon and recycled materials, and renewable energy, are addressing the challenges of climate change and resource management.

Helen Oakey, the chief executive of not-for-profit organisation Renew, says climate resilience will be an important benchmark.

“Whether that’s heat or bushfire, storms or floods, managing those impacts for home safety and comfort will be super-important,” she says. “Fifty years into the future, I think we’ll see more homes that reflect the story of preparing for climate resilience in different places.”

Hip V. Hype’s Davison Collaborative in Brunswick and Ruskin Elwood in Elwood were completed in 2020 and demonstrate future heritage thinking in practice. Ruskin Elwood, on the canal, is a passive-design development of four townhouses that replaces two earlier dwellings and can run on 100 per cent renewable energy. Davison Collaborative is a collaboration with architect Archier to replace a single post-war house with three fossil-fuel-free townhouses

Wallis and his partner, former Olympic skier Katya Crema, who is Hip V. Hype’s head of sales, lived in Davison Collaborative for two years. They experienced how the homes maintain a steady temperature through all seasons. It’s a building seal that Wallis calls “envelope performance”.

Robust materials that “age gracefully”, such as masonry and timber, were chosen because they patinate rather than wear down, Wallis says. He notes the Elwood and Brunswick projects have matured as intended.

“The aim is for the building to look better in five to 10 years’ time than on the day it is finished,” Wallis says. “If you think about how to make it easier for occupants to maintain a building through time, then it’s more likely to be looked after.”

Wexhaus director and architect Wesley Spencer also points to durability as a test of value.

“We need to look at how we build longer-lasting buildings, those designed to last for 100, 200 or 300 years,” he says. “I think that when people reflect on our practices, they’ll consider that how we build today is the fast-fashion of architecture. Most [buildings] won’t survive past 2050, so we may not even have the opportunity to get nostalgic.”

Julie Mulhauser’s Melbourne home of 20 years was cutting-edge in many ways, but not in thermal regulation. The 1977 Merchant Builders house was cold, and bugs could “come and go as they pleased” through gaps, she recalls. “We were freezing, wearing beanies and under doonas to watch the TV.”

Now retrofitted to go the distance, her Graeme Gunn-designed home in Canterbury is set to open on May 17 for Sustainable Houses Day – an annual initiative of Renew.

The improvements included enhancing airtightness, rebuilding the roof to add insulation, installing double-glazed windows, and upgrading to electric appliances.

“These are not insignificant financial decisions people are taking to alter their homes, and you really need the confidence that it will work,” Mulhauser says.

Others are embedding these ideals from the ground up. David Cummins is the founder of Future Property Group, which uses modular construction for its carbon-negative eco-lodges, following three years of research and design.

“A lot of the traditional prefab homes are generally, in my experience, a place that shelters and a place to sleep,” he says. “We really went deep with our interior design for an emotional experience.”

Cummins says that investigating the use of hemp, mycelium (mushroom), sugarcane, and mud in modern construction is the next frontier.

“We believe that the future heritage value is a building that actually works with nature through energy efficiency, healthy materials and a low-carbon design,” he says.

Ultimately, Wallis believes, future heritage value will be determined by generations to come. “It’s up to others,” he says. “We do the best we can to deliver on a vision, but it’s like raising a child – at a point you’ve got to hand it over.”

Those attitudes will evolve over time, Spencer says: “We might not entirely appreciate everything about the places that we inherit, but in the future there will probably be an appetite to restore and retain them.”