Sekisui House debuts Shawood environmentally friendly homes at Coolum Residences on the Sunshine Coast

One of Japan’s largest property developers, Sekisui House, launched the first of three environmentally friendly homes in its 150-home Coolum Residences development in the Sunshine Coast on Friday, in conjunction with Lend Lease.

The homes are built using the company’s Shawood system – billed as an environmentally friendly system of building that Sekisui House say has some of the most advanced eco-friendly design elements ever built in Australia.

The homes are developed with Queensland Architects using a combination of imported technology and local materials.

Construction materials for the homes are pre-engineered offsite, including the timber frames and metal joints. According to Lend Lease, each home uses photovoltaic roof tiles, highly insulated windows, wall ventilation and energy monitoring systems. The buildings are billed as low maintenance and include a self-cleaning external webbing.

Lend Lease says there could eventually be 150 Shawood homes at the Coolum Residences development.

Coolum Residences is a 150-hectare block 120 kilometres north of Brisbane, with much of the project marketed towards Japanese investors.

Prices for the Shawood homes start at $1.5 million.

Sekisui House, which bought AV Jennings in 2009, increased its exposure to the local property scene through an agreement with Lend Lease in 2010.

The 50/50 joint venture partnership focuses on residential master-planned projects in Queensland and Victoria.

As part of the 2010 agreement, Sekisui House bought land holdings from Lend Lease at Hyatt Coolum on the Sunshine Coast, as well as a 50% interest in the adjoining Hyatt Coolum resort.

Sekisui House intends building up to 450 new homes on the land, while Lend Lease will provide development management services.

Lend Lease Development bought the Hyatt Coolum in 2003 from Japan's Kumagai Gumi for about $35 million.