A contemporary design for a rare example of a new house plot in London - and the UK's first net-carbon-neutral detached house (as proven by six years of monitoring). Our Client Will Anderson published a book about this house, 'Diary of an Eco-builder'. The ground floor living areas open up to the rear garden whilst the top-floor study opens up to the tree. Inspiration came from Alvar Aalto and Thomas Cubitt (the original architect of Clapham Park). Throughout the building are squares and golden sections, and the balcony balustrade posts are arranged in a Fibonacci sequence.
The Clients had already obtained outline planning for a large chalet bungalow in the garden of their home. The plot slopes down 1 in 10 from the exiting house and enjoys distant views of wooded hills. The split level ground floor provides extra ceiling height in the sitting room and the gambrel roof maximises volume under the ridge height. Bathrooms are gathered on the north side. A piled raft was necessary in difficult ground conditions; on this is a cavity blockwork structure. Constructed over 2003-4 under a conventional building contract by a single contractor.
We support self-builders; designing, obtaining planning permission, demonstrating compliance with building regulations, preparing construction documentation and helping with project management. We carry out buiding performance modelling using PHPP (Passive House Planning Package) and thermal bridge modelling of construction details using THERM. Many projects we embark on have planning permission already; we assist with taking them through the remaining stages, to completion. Sometimes we are asked to assess a design for compliance with the Passivhaus standard, and often it is possible to bring them up to the standard with minimal amendment.
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