Tropical design is one of the widest reaching and most diverse design styles, its roots reaching from Asia and the Pacific, to the Americas and across Africa. Each region has its own unique design typography, based on millennia of learnt experience and consequential development. Despite their differences, all traditional tropical design styles engage passive cooling techniques, site specific design and inherent sustainability.
You would assume in a climate like ours most houses would make the most of passive systems to keep cool and reduce power bills. However, many contemporary homes in Australia’s tropics rely heavily on artificial climate control systems to ensure they are cool and comfortable during our harsh summer months. Buildings that rely on air-conditioning are usually designed with little regard for site conditions, passive systems or materials that could be used to create thermal comfort.
Not only does this impact the environment, it’ll be hurting your pocket in the long run.
Bodies of water act as a ‘heat sink’, absorbing thermal energy from the environment around them without increasing their own temperature.
While it is possible to enhance existing designs by increasing cross ventilation, improving insulation and shading exposed surfaces from direct sunlight, it is much easier to properly design for a tropical climate from the get-go. See a few basic design principals below that explain how a few alterations can make a world of difference to your comfort.
Opening up interiors and creating ventilation paths helps move cool air through all areas of a home, preventing some areas becoming hotter and more stuffy.
Creating an atrium in a multi-storey building allows hot air from all floors to rise and escape, instead of being trapped in each floor.
Open designs oriented to maximise breeze and minimise solar impact on building surfaces will dramatically impact the thermal efficiency of a building. Wide roof awnings minimise direct solar impact on walls while maintaining access to natural light.
At RECS we believe in designing beautiful spaces that are suited to our tropical environment and make the most of every unique site we encounter. If you are looking to renovate your existing home to be more efficient, or looking to design a new passive home, call in to our office for a free consult.
Our interior designer Kate has a passion for solving problems, creating incredible spaces, and sharing her design tips and tricks.