The house design where you won't need a heater in winter

There’s much talk about Passive House Design—or ‘Passivhaus’ as it was known in Germany where it originated —in 2024 and the energy-saving efficiencies it offers homeowners. From the exterior, you wouldn’t know whether a home has incorporated passive house design or not. But journey inside, and you’ll find a different experience home awaits.

The first thing you’ll notice from a passive home is it’s incredibly quiet; the outside noise is reduced thanks to exceptional sound insulation. You’ll then come to notice a comfortable temperature range — never too hot, never too cold — with fresh air filtrating each and every room. For those that detest dust, you’re likely to find fewer cleaning tasks each month.

Passive House Design is changing the way people live, the energy they save, and the comfort they’ll come to cherish. Chief Creative Officer of Melbourne Design Studios Felicity Bernstein says it’s only a matter of time until Passivhaus is the go-to for every home — the definition of modern luxury living.

“In Passivhaus, we are a lot less reliant on solar heat gains than in a traditional Aussie home. Passive Houses stay warm through the increased insulation and the continuous airtightness throughout; all rooms of the entire house are equally warm, and there are basically no hotspots or unconditioned spaces,” said Ms Bernstein.

“You can imagine a Passivhaus a little bit like an esky: the temperature you have inside will be generally kept inside, and is kind of independent from the outside. Humans give off heat and so do appliances and that really is all that is needed if you have a well built Passivhaus. That is why you can hardly imagine to ever live in a non Passivhaus ever again once you experience the level of natural comfort a Passivhaus can offer.”

Below, Ms Bernstein explains the principles around Passivhaus and the key factors to its design throughout homes.

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What is passive house design?

Coined by physicists Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist in the 1970s, the leading principles around Passive House Design describe an approach to building design that focuses on passive strategies for achieving optimal energy efficiency and comfort. This is done through such design techniques like utilising sunlight through large windows or skylights, or allowing optimal ventilation throughout designated areas to provide both heating and cooling. Through passive design, the indoor environment of a home is incredibly comfortable, and that translates to other areas like noise and aesthetics, too.

“In Passivhaus, the surface temperature of materials is not much different to the room temperature due to incredible advanced construction detailing and built methods. That means that you have a lot more design freedom in what materials you can use,” said Ms Bernstein.

“You basically can have anything on the inside, as the continuous insulation layer is disconnecting any inside material from the temperature condition of the outside.”

Consider the geometry of your home

It’s essential to design your home’s layout and orientation in a way that maximises solar gain during the winter months, while minimising solar heat gain during the summer.

“From a design point of view, we try to keep the geometry of the home relatively compact as it will help the home to perform — that would apply to both a Passivhaus or a more traditional home based on passive solar design,” said Ms Bernstein.

“Active shading is important in Passivhaus, especially in summer. While in a Passivhaus you can trust having a warm home throughout winter and don’t have to hope for sunshine to heat your home, a more traditional home working with passive solar design would benefit substantially from lots of north facing glazing in combination with thermal mass underfoot, like a concrete slab that can store that solar heat gain.”

Think about natural insulation

Using high-performance insulating materials throughout main areas throughout your home—like floors, roofs and in walls—will help to minimise the heat transfer between the interior and exterior of your home. It’s also important to ensure that the installation of insulation is continuous across materials to eliminate thermal bridging, which can lead to energy loss.

A great starting point for insulation is incorporating engineered timber flooring throughout your home, which insulates and increases the energy efficiency of your home.

“We [Melbourne Design Studios] are personally big fans of FSC-certified timbers or recycled timber surfaces, as we as humans have an innate connection to timber. It is warm and soft to touch, enhances biophilic connection, is supporting better acoustics and indoor air quality,” said Ms Bernstein.

“And topping all this, it sequesters carbon which hugely helps to remove carbon from the atmosphere and is our number one material to achieve carbon zero constructions.”

Airtight construction is pivotal

Implementing airtight construction techniques ensure that there is no way for air leakage or drafts to occur, which can significantly reduce heating and cooling expenditure. One key way of factoring this in is through the Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation (MHVR) system, which is crucial for maintaining indoor air quality and comfort (with minimal energy consumption).

“In Passivhaus, a mechanical heat recovery ventilation system supplies fresh at the indoor temperature all the way through your home,” said Ms Bernsstein.

“This, combined with the airtightness and continuous insulation, completely cuts out the feeling of drafts which brings an unknown comfort to the inhabitants.”

You don’t need traditional design methods to warm your home

Unlike traditional homes, in Passivhaus, the use of temperature control elements, like a fireplace, curtains, or specialised windows, aren’t necessary in heating and cooling your home. In fact, in Passivhaus, there really is no need for a heat source of this kind at all.

There is, however, a way to merge both worlds of Passivhaus and a more traditional home to create a warm and welcoming look and feel.

“Ethanol fireplaces don’t give up too much heat and don’t need a flue – they are clean and easy to maintain and you have a lot of design freedom too,” said Ms Bernstein.

“Otherwise we find that natural materials like timber, marble, clay render, and lime wash paint vibrate some warm hues into any space. Combined with some cushions, rugs, and throws this can feel very warm. And the best thing is, in Passivhaus, it is always nice and warm – no cold feet anymore!”

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For Jack Freeman, a compelling interior should not look as though it was completed in a single shopping trip.

The founder and designer behind FREEMAN & CO prefers rooms that develop through art, travel, commissioned furniture and objects collected over time. It is an approach that treats the home less as a decorative project and more as an evolving portrait of its owner.

“I am a true believer in collecting versus decorating,” Freeman says.

That distinction underpins the international practice he has built across private residences, hotels, property developments, yachts and private aviation. Its projects stretch from Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay and Toorak to Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean.

Although the locations and architecture vary considerably, the work is connected by a restrained design language. Natural stone, warm timbers and sculptural furniture establish the foundation, while art, bespoke lighting and individual objects give each interior its identity.

The objective is not to overwhelm a room with obvious symbols of expense. It is to create an environment that feels calm, layered and particular to the people living within it.

“The greatest luxury isn’t about excess,” Freeman says. “It’s about creating an oasis where you come home and feel immediately grounded — effortlessly chic and deeply personal.”

Collecting instead of decorating

Decorating can imply the completion of a room: selecting the required furniture, filling the available walls and producing a coherent finished image.

Collecting is less conclusive.

A collected interior has room to change as its owners travel, discover artists, inherit pieces or reassess how they use their home. Its character comes from the relationship between objects rather than adherence to a single brand or season.

That does not mean placing unrelated pieces together without discipline. The designer must understand scale, proportion, material and provenance well enough to create a dialogue between them.

A contemporary artwork might sit beside a historic piece of furniture. A precisely detailed new interior may be interrupted by an irregular object made by hand. Smooth stone can be balanced by timber, textiles or a patinated metal surface that becomes richer with age.

The tension between those elements is part of the appeal.

For Freeman, art is not an accessory to be added once the furniture plan is complete. It forms part of the architecture and atmosphere of the room from the beginning.

Lighting is considered in the same way. Beyond its practical purpose, a bespoke fitting can operate as a suspended sculpture, changing both the room’s composition and the way its materials are experienced after dark.

A design perspective shaped by travel

International travel plays a significant role in Freeman’s creative process.

Design fairs such as PAD Paris and Salone del Mobile in Milan provide opportunities to encounter emerging designers, established galleries, new materials and collectible furniture away from the filter of social media.

More spontaneous discoveries can prove equally important.

“Sometimes it’s the simple things,” Freeman says. “That piece found on a shopping trip with a client in Paris, stumbling across an artisan’s workshop, or a special memory that forms the narrative of the story.”

Objects selected during travel bring more than visual interest into a home. They carry an association with a place, maker or experience, giving the client a connection that cannot be reproduced by ordering an entire interior from a catalogue.

Freeman’s influences are international, but his projects are not conceived as replicas of Parisian, Milanese or Californian style. Each commission responds to its architecture, setting, natural light and the daily lives of its occupants.

A waterfront Sydney residence demands a different treatment from a Mayfair townhouse. A Caribbean estate shaped by brutalist architecture and reflecting pools calls for another response again.

The designer’s role is to absorb those references without allowing them to overwhelm the individual qualities of the property.

Designing the complete experience

FREEMAN & CO extends beyond conventional interior decoration.

The practice’s stated services include interior design and architecture, project management, property acquisition, development advice, concept design, documentation, furniture and lighting design, procurement and art curation.

That breadth allows the team to become involved before a room’s dimensions and finishes are fixed.

Early participation can be important at the top end of the residential market, where architecture, landscape, interiors, technology and art must operate as one environment. Decisions about ceiling heights, wall dimensions, sightlines and lighting can directly affect where art is installed or how custom furniture is proportioned.

The practice can then carry those decisions through to procurement and final installation, maintaining the design narrative as a project moves between architects, builders, specialist craftspeople, dealers and suppliers.

Its residential portfolio includes a South Coast retreat conceived as an escape from urban life, a Caribbean estate with reflecting pools, an East Coast-inspired Palm Beach residence and a Mayfair townhouse organised around an expressive drawing room.

The studio also says it has worked on highly tailored Sydney residences with values exceeding $100 million, although the private nature of such commissions means individual addresses and clients are not always disclosed.

A home that can keep changing

The risk in creating a perfectly resolved interior is that it can become too static — a composition that looks exceptional in photographs but leaves little room for life.

Freeman sees the home as something that should evolve with its owners.

“I love the evolution of design,” he says. “We are talking about people’s lives, and as they evolve, so too should their private sanctuaries.”

That evolution might involve adding art, reupholstering a significant piece, adapting rooms as a family changes or making space for objects gathered through future travels.

The original design needs to be strong enough to accommodate those layers.

This may be the clearest expression of Freeman’s approach to luxury. It is not simply access to rare stone, collectible furniture or commissioned craftsmanship. It is the creation of a personal environment whose meaning deepens rather than diminishes with time.

Fact box

Designer: Jack Freeman

Role: Founder and managing director

Practice: FREEMAN & CO

Base: Australia, with international projects

Project locations named by the practice: Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay, Toorak, Palm Beach, the NSW South Coast, Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean

Sectors: Private residences, hotels, residential developments, private aviation and superyachts

Services: Interior design and architecture, property development, project management, property acquisition, documentation, furniture and lighting design, FF&E procurement, interior dressing and art curation

Design philosophy: Collected, personal interiors shaped by art, craftsmanship, travel and enduring materials

Website: free-man.co

The house design where you won’t need a heater in winter

A popular construction method in Europe, Passive House design has plenty to offer Australians keen on an energy efficient, cost effective home

Jack Freeman believes the most compelling interiors are not decorated, but collected. The FREEMAN & CO founder creates layered, personal spaces shaped by art, travel and craftsmanship.