The brief was simple: a single-storey family home that would sit quietly in a mature garden and cost almost nothing to heat. We stepped the plan down the slope in three pavilions, each with its own courtyard, so every room gets morning or evening sun.
Structure and materials
The house is built from a prefabricated timber frame filled with wood-fibre insulation and clad in charred larch. A standing-seam zinc roof oversails the glazing to shade it in summer. Inside, exposed glulam beams and lime-plastered walls keep the palette warm and calm.
Performance
Measured airtightness came in at 0.5 air changes per hour. A small air-source heat pump and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery keep the house comfortable year-round, and roof-mounted solar covers most of its annual electricity.
