Passive House &
High-Performance Homes
Homes that hold 20 degrees year-round, on a fraction of the energy - designed for New Zealand conditions.
Comfort you can measure.
First Light House
Waimarama, New Zealand
Craighall
Wairarapa, New Zealand
Our offering
ACertified Passive House
Designed, modelled and independently verified to the full standard: PHPP energy modelling, airtightness testing, certification.
BHigh-performance home
The same design logic - envelope, orientation, ventilation - to verifiable targets, without formal certification.
CEnerPHit / deep retrofit
Upgrading an existing home: insulation, airtightness, glazing and ventilation, to the retrofit standard or as far as the building allows.
Selected high-performance + passive projects
First Light Studio grew out of the Meridian First Light House - New Zealand's entry in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, where it placed third in the world. We've been designing high-performance homes ever since.
A certified Passive House isn't a style - it's a measurable performance standard, and the most rigorous one available for New Zealand homes. Continuous insulation, airtight construction, high-performance windows, and balanced ventilation with heat recovery combine to deliver a home that stays between 20 and 25 degrees all year, with fresh filtered air in every room and heating bills a fraction of a standard build.
The result is a house that is warm in a Wellington southerly, dry through winter, and quiet despite the wind - because the same airtight envelope that holds the heat also keeps out the noise.
First Light Studio is an Associate Member of the Passive House Institute of New Zealand, with certified Homestar designers and certifiers on the team, designing certified Passive House and high-performance homes across New Zealand from our Wellington studio.
Your passive house and high-performance questions
Titoki House
Martinborough, New Zealand
Titoki House
Martinborough, New Zealand
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A Passive House (Passivhaus) is a home designed and certified to an international performance standard: exceptional insulation, airtight construction, no thermal bridges, high-performance glazing, and continuous fresh-air ventilation with heat recovery. The result is a home that needs almost no active heating - and proves it with measured targets, not marketing.
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Typically a modest premium over an equivalent well-built home, concentrated in windows, airtightness detailing and the ventilation system - and partly offset by simpler heating. The premium shrinks with good early design decisions, which is why passive homes should be designed to the standard from day one rather than upgraded to it later.
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Arguably more than anywhere - our housing stock is famously cold, damp and draughty, and our climate is mild enough that a passive envelope gets you to year-round comfort with very little energy. In Wellington specifically, airtight construction also means a home that's calm and quiet in the wind.
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Certification means the design is energy-modelled, the airtightness is physically tested, and an independent certifier verifies the result. "Principles" means applying the same design logic without the formal verification. We design both, but we'll always tell you honestly what a given budget can verify.
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Yes - the retrofit standard is called EnerPHit, with slightly relaxed targets that acknowledge the constraints of existing buildings. Even partial deep-retrofits (insulation, airtightness, ventilation, glazing) can transform how an older home performs.
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Not necessarily - Passive House is a performance standard, not an aesthetic - it can be a modern pavilion, a gable form, or a renovated villa. Compact, well-oriented forms certify more easily, which tends to produce better architecture anyway.
Contact First Light Studio.
If you're interested in working with us, complete the form with a few details about your project. We'll review your message and get back to you within 48 hours.
Why First Light?Design Led - Architecture that enhances how you live and adds long term value.
Sustainable outcomes - Better performance, comfort, and lower environmental impacts.
Collaborative process - Clear communication and guidance from concept to completion.