A newly built solar powered rotating house is going to auction in Canberra’s outer-north.
Girasole, Italian for “turn to the sun” and “sunflower”, is mounted on tracks and is designed to follow the sun during winter and avoid the sun during summer.
The brainchild of builder John Andriolo, Girasole is supported by 28 wheels and driven by two three-speed motors.
The four-bedroom two-bathroom rotating home has 173 square metres of living space, a four car garage and is designed to be environmentally friendly.
The roof and garage operates as catchment area for a 120,000 litre water tank beneath the garage. There are 24 solar panels which generate 10,500 kilowatts and the home is well insulated.
It takes 10 minutes to fully rotate and is controlled by a touch screen panel.
The house is on a 704 square metre block in The Ridge estate at Crace, with glorious views over the Gungaderra Grasslands which LJ Hooker marketing says will never be built out.
It was designed by architect Ross Norwood from DNA architects with interior design by Karin McNamara Design.
Andriolo, owner of MAG Constructions, says he was inspired by the teachings of Galileo when designing the house.
LJ Hooker agent Stephen Bunday says the home will appeal to those looking for something different.
“When I first heard about the concept of the rotating home I thought it was a little bit crazy. But because it was John Andriolo and I’ve worked with John many times before and I know how passionate he is about everything that he does I had to take it seriously,” Bunday says.
John Andriolo says he first thought of building the house when he was a child.
The rotating house is believed to be the first one in Canberra. Construction started on the property last year and was tracked by its own Facebook page.
Engineer Peter McKay says similar homes in Australia suffer from excessive operating noise so they worked hard to make this one quiet. He says it is essentially silent.
It goes to auction on Wednesday May 15 but Bunday says interest has mainly come from those curious to see the build rather than serious buyers.
“I think that people are a bit worried it’s a prototype. It’s in a new area of Canberra which is a relatively new development; it’s only been developed over the last couple of years. If it was a tried and true suburb it might be different or if it was a rural setting,” Bunday says.
It almost featured on Grand Designs but Bunday says the location put things off. Though it looks over bushland the home is surrounded by vacant lots.
Bunday hopes the property will sell for more than $1 million.
A rotating house called Everingham near Wingham in NSW was featured on the ABC’s New Inventors programme in 2006.
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