The Paddocks Passive House

The Paddocks- Self build Passive house.

This project saw the development of a contemporary Passivehaus to be lived in by four generations of the same family. The house goes beyond the basics of Passive design and embraces other sustainable technologies and as a self build scheme is in some ways a case study example of what can be achieved in rural housing provision.

The timber framed construction uses an off site modular build method which is still flexible enough to accommodate the demands of the design, while providing the high thermal performance required of Passivehaus design. To provide hot water there is an Air Source Heat Pump and on the existing adjacent stable block will be mounted Photovoltaic to produce electricity. Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery recycles heat from the air, meaning that the house requires no additional heating source to perform.

The design pushed Passivehaus to its limits providing in some rooms high ceiling voids,  a terrace balcony, and details which at first glance seem to break the normal rules of this form of construction. The proposal had the input of a Passivehaus certified energy consultant at planning stage, to assist in its design. It is now at construction phase and the timber frame system was chosen due to the companies expertise in Passivehaus. The design has changed from initial planning application. Originally it was to be predominantly rendered, the house is now fully clad in native untreated douglas fir, and the pitched roof has evolved into a draped metal clad structure that reaches down to the ground on the north side.

‘The house plays with its spaces and with the spaces outside, it interacts with its physical environment not only through its form and design but with use of ground and water and sun and air to try and become an integrated part of the paddock.’– S. Swaby Principal Architect