The Fern, Australia’s first Passivhaus apartment, was designed, built and developed by Oliver Steele and the Steele Associates team. Oliver personally researched every aspect of the project from site strategy, right through to the finest details such as specifying the location of every single MHRV ventilation valve for optimum performance. For each and every decision, Oliver asked, “How is it normally done in apartments, and why is it done like that? How can we improve on ‘normal’ by lowering environmental impact and increasing quality and delight for occupants?” After exploring Passivhaus, Oliver realised that its rigorous scientific method overcame the shortcomings he’d found with passive solar design. He decided to take the plunge and commit to making the Fern, Australia’s first ever Passivhaus multi-residential development.