Gumtree Spring

Gumtree Spring is a bush retreat just outside of Daylesford offering holiday accommodation. Unfortunately the original mudbrick house was destroyed by fire and the owners were keen to replace the building, however this time with more emphasis placed on energy efficiency and bushfire safety.

In light of the revisions made to the Australian Standards in building in bushfire prone areas, the house was designed to meet very stringent levels of bushfire safety. The house is clad entirely in mudbrick and all exposed timbers are very dense fire resistant species.

The wall construction departs significantly from the traditional method of mudbrick building. There is a structural stud frame with a veneer of mudbricks laid on edge, on both sides of the frame. This allows insulation batts to be placed in the cavity created by the stud frame and then forms an insulated building envelope with a layer of internal thermal mass. This kind of ‘reverse veneer’ construction is far superior in thermal performance than convntional brick veneer where the bricks on the outside effectively do little more than keep the rain out.

Roof trusses over the living areas feature a raked ceiling which allow highlight windows to capture more sunlight from above the treetops, while still having ample room to place optimal amounts of insulation.