Community considers ‘Housing Solutions for Bushfire Resilience and Recovery’

A diverse and interested group from across the New England attended the first UNE SRI CleanTech Future series event, held in March at NOVA, Armidale.

‘Housing Solutions for Bushfire Resilience and Recovery’ was an interactive event exploring options for innovative building and design to minimise risk associated with bushfires and storms.

“It was great to host such an engaged group of people from across our community,” said Sewa Emojong, Startup Activator at UNE SRI.

“Four speakers each brought a unique perspective, and generated an enthusiastic Q&A and lively conversations!”

New England landowner and architect, Adam Litherland shared his personal experience of designing and building his own home – while his land was impacted by three bushfires.

Ecology and bushfire consultant, Stephen Cotter detailed bushfire considerations for building in the New England North West.

Sean O'Bryan and Kevin Starling have both won awards for fire and storm-resistant home design.

“Sean O’Bryan is the co-founder of Baldwin OBryan Architects,” Sewa said.

“What started out as a research project moved into a commercial enterprise, designing Earth Sheltered homes and buildings for real life application. Known for their fire resistance, Sean’s design concepts have won him and his partner many awards including the 2013 Best Design Concept at the Grand Design Show in Melbourne.”

“Likewise, Kevin is a multi-award-winning designer and builder of diverse synergistic structures incorporating sustainable building and design practices and products.”

This CleanTech Future Series event is part of the Scorched project, a NSW and Commonwealth government funded initiative aimed at addressing challenges posed by bushfires and climate variability through innovation and enterprise.