The goal of OFFGRID-INSTYLE is to provide the general public with affordable professionally prepared plans and construction drawings of stylish small homes and cabins which are energy efficient, no bigger than necessary, no more complex than necessary, and easily built by local tradesmen or competent handymen as economically as possible.
As simple as these designs may appear, hundreds of hours, many thousands of dollars, and more than fifty years' building and design experience have gone into researching, developing, prototyping, and perfecting them – including selecting the most economical components and materials, testing ideas and designs in practice, simplifying construction details to minimise labour, and adjusting dimensions to suit standard component sizes to minimise cutting and waste.
OFFGRID-INSTYLE designs and drawings are prepared by accredited building designer David Macfarlane, an experienced builder/architect/developer whose formal qualifications include a Building Certificate (Sydney Tech 1982), BSc Architecture (UNSW 1994), and MSc in Sustainable Building Design (Oxford Brookes 2013). Completed projects include Tamar Solarhome, a luxurious but totally self-sufficient off grid house in northern Tasmania (2017), plus one of Australia's first purpose-built solar-powered off-grid resorts (1995-2007), now trading as Elysian Island Retreat.
OFFGRID-INSTYLE and TAMAR SOLARHOME are owned and operated by Ecoventure Pty Ltd. (ABN 23002169842) 24 Pars Rd, Greens Beach, Tasmania 7270. Managing director David Macfarlane can be contacted at: davemac713@yahoo.com