Get a free no-obligation quote
Get a quick solar quote
After two months of laughter, friendly competition, inspiration and truly great design, we have reached the end of Season 1 of the renovation or reconstruction.
This season took us from the sun-drenched coasts of Queensland and New South Wales to the leafy suburbs of Melbourne, and met some wonderful families along the way. With the help of The Block fan favorite, these families have the opportunity to reimagine their home as a more comfortable, healthier, and more energy-efficient home. They are one step closer to finding the answer to the ancient question of renovation or reconstruction.
In the finale on Monday night, the season ended with the winning teams Norm and Jess, who helped Habitat for Humanity make life easier for a family who lost everything in the devastating forest fire last year.
We also inspected a house with an incredible 10-star energy rating with Jimmy, studied some simple design ideas you can incorporate into renovation or reconstruction, and cringed and laughed when the failed team was punished .
We also received some highly anticipated updates on the featured families throughout the season to learn about their renovation or reconstruction plans.
None of us will forget the unprecedented devastating forest fires that swept across Australia's east coast in 2019 and 2020. More than 17 million hectares of land were scorched, 3,094 houses were destroyed, more than 1 billion mammals, birds and reptiles lost their lives, and, heartbreakingly, 33 people lost their lives.
The scale and duration of these fires are frightening-a reminder that the severe effects of climate change are increasingly affecting our lives.
One family that lost everything in these bushfires is Joanne and Warren, who live in the stunning Blue Mountains of New South Wales. On a decisive day 18 months ago, an out-of-control bushfire swept their 25-year-old home, making it unrecognizable and uninhabitable.
Although they have lost all their worldly property, they left with their lives and hopes and dreams, and they will one day rebuild in a place they still consider to be home.
Today, with the support and generosity of the Habitat for Humanity, Renovate or Rebuild team and sponsoring partners, they are one step closer to realizing this dream.
Habitat for Humanity Australia is currently the largest and most active organization in the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands, mobilizing volunteers to provide extensive, free and practical bushfire recovery assistance to affected Australian families.
James met with Nicole Stanmore and Dean Hart of Habitat for Humanity. They answered the phone and helped Joanna and Warren get back on their feet, starting with a renovated and restored demolition house for them to visit Live while waiting for the new home to move in. Was built.
Kencester Nursery is also involved. It donated a lot of plants to help Warren and Joanne restore their land.
Last but not least, Energy Matters, Smart Energy Answers, Longi Solar and FimerSpa worked together to generously donate and install a 3kW solar system, including 8 370W Hi-MO4 solar panels and REACT 2 inverters donated by Longi Solar The equipment and battery store the system donated by FIMER, as well as the electrical work and installation donated by the Smart Energy Answers team.
The system will cover the household’s energy use day and night, which means they don’t need to worry about bills when they rebuild.
When the team began to finalize Warren and Joanne’s temporary homes before the major unveiling, Jimmy and James visited some incredible properties from which we could all draw inspiration.
Moorooka's medieval makeover
At the first stop, Jimmy went to Moorooka, Queensland to visit a refurbished house that combines natural light, insulation and thermal qualities to achieve a healthy, comfortable and efficient living space.
Shown to Jimmy is Matt Riley from Tonic Designs, who assisted the Queensland team in Currimundi design.
Moorooka was one of Brisbane's popular double-brick suburbs in the 1950s/60s. When Matt was hired by the homeowner to design the renovation project, he knew that it was important to build a house that would meet their needs while retaining the characteristics and essence of the existing property and suburbs.
When you enter the front door, it opens a spacious entrance foyer, creating the atmosphere of a spacious and airy home. The new garden house at the rear of the house is designed as a flexible indoor and outdoor space, cool and dry, and enjoy outdoor life. It connects the home with the garden and provides a cool cushion under the shade of a large mango tree.
To further enhance the effectiveness of this cool buffer zone, a double-height space was designed above the garden room and kitchen. Although this double-height space is eye-catching, its role is much more than that. It establishes a visual connection between the two floors, helps reposition the house to the north, captures natural light and constructs a framed view of the treetops. But more importantly, it is like a big chimney, which can inhale fresh and cool air through the house.
Each space has been carefully designed, and elements that guide the owner to use the space are cleverly introduced.
The refurbished hero, the retreat for new parents, floats among the treetops, feeling like a private sanctuary—an adult tree house. This maximizes the use of the northern lights while still enjoying the city view while still preserving the privacy of adults.
The thermal mass plate absorbs, stores and releases heat, passively heats and cools the house, so as to achieve low-cost comfort throughout the year.
The Bondor insulation panels used throughout the process are both practical and beautiful, seamlessly integrating the extension part with the original house, while also providing weather and shading protection for the glass windows.
The result is a home that is energy efficient, comfortable and easy to live in.
The home of stylish and sustainable stamps
At the same time, James revisited the Stamp House in Freshwater Sydney. You may remember talking to the owner of this feature-rich but compact 115-square-meter house in episode 6.
The owners Amber and Gavin shared the process of building their dream home. They combined the principles of passive design to keep their home comfortable and reduce energy bills. The Deceuninck uPVC windows installed by Integra Windows are a key aspect of this home, providing thermal protection and air tightness, helping to maintain a healthy and comfortable indoor environment.
Amber and Gavin made the best use of every square inch of their awkwardly shaped pieces. Downstairs there are two (small) bedrooms and a main bathroom, a linen cabinet and a small storage room with heat recovery ventilation system (and chocolate bar storage shelf). Upstairs there is a master bedroom and a well-sized ensuite bathroom, split-level open kitchen, living room/dining room and a study corner.
They have a small laundry room outside.
Although they had to sacrifice some luxury goods due to space constraints, they were able to invest in high-quality materials that they might not be able to buy in large quantities. When it comes to the energy efficiency of their home, they are not stingy, saying that the most important part of the house is what you can't see. "If you want a healthy home, you want an efficient home," Gavin said.
On his last stop, Jimmy went to Adelaide to meet with Jessica Allen from SUHO and opened the first 10-star residence in South Australia.
Jessica explained that everything in this home is "purposeful", from its direction, materials and even color scheme. Thanks to its smart and thoughtful design, the residence is quiet, comfortable and dust-free.
Its air-tight structure means that there are no holes, gaps or cracks for heat or energy to leak, no noise can be transmitted, and no dust! The dark concrete floor absorbs heat and re-radiates it as the temperature drops. When necessary, Highline windows provide ventilation to remove rising heat.
The house is fully electric and powered by solar energy-this is a small 3kW system, because the passive design means that its energy consumption is very low, especially in terms of cooling and heating.
When designing a passive house, Jessica explained that there are four key principles to consider:
Another important feature of the house is its intelligent automation, which ensures that energy is only used when and where it is needed. Christian Schiemann from ABB Automation explained that their smart automation system can detect and maintain the temperature and airflow in the home
Jessica said that it is not always possible to get an energy level of 10 stars based on the neighborhood, but for most people, 8 stars are achievable. She also assured that the upfront cost of implementing an energy-efficient house is lower than you think, especially if you build these features from the beginning.
This is the moment many of us have been waiting for-watching Jessie and Mel face their most feared punishment as the losers of the season.
Mel was most afraid of spiders, but Jesse was embarrassed. James meets with other teams to brainstorm on how to best execute punishment. Fortunately for Mel, when everyone agreed with Andy’s suggestion, Jesse accidentally took one for the team and asked Jesse to pull Jesse onto the stage during the upcoming Byron Comedy Festival performance. Perform impromptu comedy.
Needless to say, this strategy was successful. When Andy summoned Jesse from the audience, he looked panicked like a deer under his headlights. However, after an awkward start, Jesse quickly found his pace. He shared the funny and unconventional story of the moment he fell in love with Mel, which caused a burst of laughter from the crowd.
Towards the end of this episode, we return to the Blue Mountains to see the progress of Warren and Joanne's new home.
The winners of this season Norm and Jess came to participate in the competition. Jess and her radio partner at Moonman in the Morning donated an additional $1,000 to Warren and Joanne to help them move forward.
Warren and Joanne expressed gratitude for all the support and love they received, and they helped them get back on track and rebuild. Joanne explained that being able to live on their land again while waiting for reconstruction is very important for their health and well-being. They are very happy to be able to start their new chapter and journey in this land-if there is no support, it will take longer.
As for their new home? The floor slab will be demolished before Christmas, and the house will be built as soon as they complete the construction certificate. Their new home will make better use of the magnificent scenery and, more importantly, will be built in accordance with the construction standards of Australia's bushfire-prone areas.
We wish Warren and Joanne all the best and start a new chapter in their journey.
Before the end of the season, we received a quick update on the family progress we saw in each episode. Are they making progress on the selected design? Did they change their minds or were they heading in a different direction altogether? Let’s take a look.
Dallas and Nick still like the refurbishment plan, but they decided to wait until the supply drops back to a reasonable price for the current global shortage
After initially working with Team Renovate, Sarah and Damon are now working closely with their architects to rebuild in phases
Carl and Clensa are fully advancing the reconstruction options. As the demolition progresses. We can’t wait to see how this happened!
After pouring into the design, Shaun and Maxine changed their minds and now decide to refurbish
During the COVID lockdown in Victoria, Matt and Lionel have been carefully studying the reconstruction design they are finalizing.
Dave and Isobel have hired Martin from Archispectrum to fully develop the refurbishment options and hope to be ready for DA early next year.
After thinking hard about what to do, Kylie and Andrew decided to buy a duplex apartment with the goal of selling the apartment and continuing to take a mortgage-free loan in their favorite suburb!
In the next season, the show will revisit these families to learn more about their progress.
Did you miss an episode or want to watch the season again? Go to 9Now to watch on-demand episodes.
Energy Matters is honored to work with Renovate or Rebuild as their renewable energy experts.
If you want to use solar energy, we can help!
Energy Matters has helped more than 30,000 Australians transition to clean energy. We can guide you to choose a solar and/or battery storage solution that suits your lifestyle and budget. Receive up to 3 free quotes from our network of trusted and accredited solar installers. It's fast, free, and eliminates the hassle of shopping around.
Serving Canberra, ACT; Sydney, New South Wales; Melbourne, Victoria; Adelaide, South Australia; Perth, Washington; Brisbane, Queensland; Hobart, Tasmania; most Australian cities and regions , Including the Gold Coast of Queensland and Newcastle, New South Wales. | ACN: 632 317 545 | ABN: 41 632 317 545