Grand Designs: New Zealand on ABC – Swedish architect Josefine Watterson is passionate about building and living sustainably.
When she first moved to New Zealand, she couldn’t believe how cold the houses were. Especially when she’d come from living in houses where she could walk around in shorts while it was minus twenty degrees outside.
Which is why Josephine, already working fulltime for an architectural firm in Auckland, has her sights on building a passive house – a warm, sustainable home for her husband Will and their three children. And if she gets it right, it will also give her a prestigious qualification – that of a Certified Passive House Designer.
When they discovered a relatively cheap block of land near Will’s family in Featherston, they jumped at the chance of moving out of Auckland to start their dream.
Josefine is eager to promote awareness and importance of sustainable homes and show that they don’t need to be unattractive boxes with small windows – so their house will be double height with a raked ceiling.
The challenges on Will and Josefine’s horizon are massive. Not only are they relocating their lives, juggling fulltime jobs and the pressures of managing (and working on) a house build whilst caring for their young family. On top of all that, the house will need to pass a blower test to be a certified passive house.
Both Will and Josefine know it’s a gamble to risk everything for their dream, they just hope it will all be worth it all in the end.
Grand Designs: New Zealand – Thursday 11 May, 2023 at 8:30pm on ABC and ABC iview
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