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Projects •Cowes Cultural Centre, an award-winning Passivhaus...

Cowes Cultural Centre, an award-winning Passivhaus building on Phillip Island.

Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia

When the client envisioned this Civic Centre project as a dynamic and interactive space, an exemplar of sustainable civic facilities, Egis demonstrated the value of pursuing a Passivhaus design. Now the project has won two industry awards.

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Photo: Victor Vieaux Photography (Photos purchased by Inhabit)

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Client

Bass Coast Shire Council

Timeline

2019 - 2024

Awards

2024 Victorian Architecture Awards – The William Wardell Award for Public Architecture.
2024 Australian Interior Design Awards

Key figures.

≈10years

when Passivhaus uplift could be paid off

3,500sqm of total area

AU$30mtotal construction cost

The challenge.

Revitalising Cowes: A sustainable vision for the Cowes Cultural Centre

Cowes is located on Phillip Island, Australia, a popular tourist destination visited by 35% of Melbourne’s international visitors each year. In addition, it has a resident population with one of the highest growth rates in the state of Victoria. In 2005, it was identified that due to growth in the region, and the existing Cowes Cultural Centre facilities were not meeting demand.

The Bass Coast Shire Council who own and operate the centre, envisioned a new building as an exemplar of sustainable civic facilities, a high-performance facility to serve the community, and deliver a cultural experience for residents and visitors. Their number one priority for the building was to maintain the health and wellbeing of the occupants.

Imagine.

The value of pursuing a Passivhaus design

For owner-operators and owner-occupiers, the Passivhaus Standard is effective and attractive as it delivers superior thermal comfort and energy efficiency in its design.

The team demonstrated the value of pursuing targets focused on meeting five key performance outcomes. These were to:

Enhance the indoor environment for people
Improve community interaction and experience
Reduce the impact on the local environment
Focus on enhancing outcomes for the building owner
Reduce the risk in delivery for quality and durability during construction

By accounting for rising energy prices over time into a real-time payback calculation, the team found that the Passivhaus uplift could be paid off in as soon as 10 years. This accelerated payback period is due to the compounding effect of on-site renewable energy, energy savings and the anticipated escalation in energy costs, making the initial investment much more attractive.

The team effectively communicated to the client that while the upfront costs for Passivhaus Certification are higher, the long-term savings and environmental benefits make it a sound financial decision. By reducing energy consumption and operational costs significantly, the building will pay for itself over time, offering a return on investment that aligns with both economic and environmental goals.

Create.

Egis conducted a Cost/Benefit analysis to support the outcomes achieved for the project. An upfront capital cost of AU$1.2 million was proposed by the contractor as the Passivhaus uplift, which was intended to cover the increased amount of insulation, higher quality of window framing and glazing, airtightness detailing, and increase in labour effort. This is approximately a 5% uplift on the total construction costs – putting it in line with other Green Building certifications such as LEED or BREEAM.

The team designed double-glazed windows with thermally broken façade systems. Most of the windows are shaded by these large, perforated metal screens to keep the building cool during summer but still allow enough daylight into the spaces.

The modelling revealed that nearly all the steel members forming the building’s thermal envelope needed to be insulated. This process was labour-intensive and required attention to detail to ensure that every part of the steel frame was adequately covered and insulated.

The renewable energy strategy on Berninneit revolves around the large roof area available for solar panels. The team designed a 125-kW system which generates approximately 150 kWh of energy per year. Although this does not generate sufficient energy to meet the next tier of Passivhaus which is Passivhaus Plus, this is able to supply at least half of the annual energy requirements for the building.

Passivhaus is not just a sustainability certification, but a simple and proven design and construction methodology that delivers superior construction quality and tangible outcomes.

Gregory RiceDirector, Sustainability Australia + New Zealand, Façades & Sustainability (Inhabit)

Achieve.

Sustainable innovation: The impact of Passivhaus design on Cowes Cultural Centre

By delivering a Passivhaus building the team ensured:

Occupant satisfaction in thermal comfort, through limited fluctuations in indoor conditions
Continuous fresh air supply and controlled CO2 levels to maintain indoor air quality
Reduced incidence of asthma and respiratory ailments due to heathier indoor environment
Eliminate the risks for mould and condensation through well-thought-out envelope detailing and material relationships

Secondary to these items are additional benefits from pursuing a Passivhaus building including a return on investment not only from construction quality and maintenance costs but also in reduced burden on social costs by creating a healthy building environment. A Passivhaus airtightness strategy can deliver year-round indoor thermal comfort and eliminate draughts. By building an efficient thermal envelope energy consumption is inherently reduced which allows for smaller plant equipment to be specified, as well as reducing the typical HVAC running costs required to maintain indoor environmental conditions.

The building has already hosted hundreds of cultural events, attracting many visitors to the region to enjoy the natural and now cultural highlights the Cowes region has to offer.

The Bunurong People are the Traditional Custodians of the Country on which this project stands.

Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, an international standard with strong sustainability focus

Christchurch, New Zealand

Campus Origine, the first building of more than 8,000 m² to be awarded the E3C2 label

France