Coup de coeur – "Donovan Hill's "Happy Haus" to help with Australian bushfire rebuild"

“Brisbane based architecture practice Donovan Hill’s Happy Haus was amongst nineteen designs selected for the Bushfire Homes Service last week.  The Bushfire Homes Service is a joint initiative of the Australian Institute of Architects (Victoria) and the Office of the Victorian Government Architect looking to support the rebuild following the devastation of the Australian bushfires in February of this year.

Donovan Hill’s DHAN range for Happy Haus is a ‘ready made’ home solution that is fully adaptable, transportable and climatically sensitive in its design.  The designs can range to be both ‘stand alone’ or combined to include garden and outdoor spaces with all modules complying fully with the new national building standards for bushfire prone zones.

Queensland based, Donovan Hill join other practices working as part of a free architectural service to help rebuild the 2000 homes lost in the fires. The Bushfire Homes Service offers those who lost their homes access to architectural expertise that will add value and improve the quality and amenity of the homes being rebuilt in the areas devastated by the February fires.

Donovan Hill’s co-founder, Brian Donovan said, “We are very pleased to be involved in the post fire rebuild.  We feel that the DHAN Happy Haus presents a low cost, flexible and sustainable design solution that can feasibly work as a mass model for reconstruction.”

The Happy Haus is designed so each module can be easily transported to a new site, or relocated from an existing address as living requirements change.  The flexible design of the modules means that the Happy Haus is able to be accommodated by most sites.

The DHAN series is characterised by finishes and details developed in Donovan Hill’s domestic architectural practice. Off-white interiors with timber window and door frames allow the personalisation of interiors by owners. The timber pelmet incorporates general room lighting as well provision for art and curtain hanging. Plywood exteriors suit Australian environmental conditions and are offered with a colour choice to suit individual settings. Distinctive roof forms and coloured ventilation flaps characterize exterior form.”

For more information on the range of house designs offered by the Bushfire Homes Service…

For more information on Donovan Hill…

(Source: Moira Lascelles, ING MEDIA)