Plan B Forum

Twenty-eight wheels, two motors and the power usage of a light bulb - that's all it will take to move Canberra's first rotating home.

Dubbed Girasole, meaning follow the sun, the house will be able to complete a full rotation in less than 10 minutes once completed early next year.

Currently under construction in the northern Canberra suburb of Crace, the four-bedroom home designed by DNA Architects and Industrious Design will allow residents to take full advantage of natural light and solar efficiency by rotating the house using a touch-screen panel.


Construction on the foundation of the rotating house is underway. Photo: Supplied

Builder and owner of MAG Constructions, John Andriolo, said the house would also be able to track the sun automatically.
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''Girasole will encourage a change in thinking away from needing to find perfectly oriented blocks and will demonstrate that even the most ambitious undertakings can be seen as a prototype for future environmentally friendly homes,'' he said.

Mr Andriolo said the eco-friendly single-storey home also included a sloping roof hosting 10,500 kilowatt solar panels able to generate enough energy to power the home and its hot water system.


An artist's impression of the completed house. Photo: Supplied

Peter McKay, from Industrious Design, said the design work took several months. He said there were a number of safety elements involved in the design, which has no overhang and features fixed components such as the walkway and verandah.

''It's only the home itself that rotates,'' he said.

Mr McKay said the rotation also used minimal energy, due to the lack of lifting involved in the process.

''We think it's about 100 watts, which is about the same as a bright light bulb,'' he said.

Mr McKay said although rotating homes were likely to remain a niche market, the eco-friendly design could inspire other projects.

''It's never going to be the main type of houses people design, but it has its benefits,'' he said. ''You may see more of these homes out there.''

Ross Norwood, from DNA Architects, said there were two or three rotating homes in Australia, but all were different and noisier than the Canberra model.

Despite the unique design, Mr Norwood said the planning process for Girasole was relatively normal.

The design did raise some initial concerns regarding privacy but he noted that the home faced either the street or the backyard for the majority of the year.

The home, on a 704-square metre block, with a large underground water tank, is expected to be finished by February.

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oldr_n_wsr wrote:I see a wheel (presumaby the house will be on it) and a house in construction in the background. Are they building it off the wheel then putting it on the wheel, or is that the neighbors house and they will construct a new house on the wheel?

oldr_n_wsr wrote:How does one hook-up to water/sewer/electric with the rotation? Electric here is overhead (and as Sandy has shown, that type of hook-up really sucks), but water and sewer hookups are underground. Do they use flexible pipe and don't rotate past a certain degree where they then rotate the other way?

Central hookups with specialzed fittings.