Planning permission has been achieved for a new low energy home designed to sit discreetly within a conservation area.
This new home adopts a fabric first approach with high levels of thermal insulation, excellent air tightness, air source heat pump and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.
The house sits down at a lower level within the site, behind a new brick garden wall and existing established planting. This means that the house will be scarcely seen from the street leading to the site, or from the adjacent listed buildings.
Set within the generous grounds of an existing Victorian villa, the new house is designed to have minimal impact on the setting of the existing house and existing views out.
Brick garden walls are a feature of the surrounding conservation area. Here the design has been developed to arrange the house behind a new brick garden wall, creating a private curtilage for the new house, and enhancing the conservation area by developing a vernacular feature.
Openings in the wall lead to the entrance of the house through a small courtyard garden. The garage door is integrated into the end of the garden wall.
The space behind the wall and the house forms a concealed courtyard approach.
The house is designed to be insulated to passive house levels and will have excellent air tightness to reduce the energy requirements for heating. An air source heat pump and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery will regulate a comfortable and healthy indoor environment.
Photo voltaic panels to generate electricity will be installed on the garage roof, screened from view by a parapet wall, and at the far end of the site from the existing trees so a shading is minimised.
An extensive biodiverse roof over the house will enhance the ecological value of the site, together with a new pond which replaces the existing pond located where the new house will be placed.
The house is designed with the main living and kitchen spaces arranged at the rear of the house addressing the private garden behind with generous glazed screens between the inside and outside spaces.
Project Details
Client: Private
Work Stages: 1-3
Dates: 2019-2020
Approximate Value: Not disclosed
Contractor: Client self build
