Wellington Lane
Eco House in Bristol
This scheme is for a new 3 bedroom eco house located in the Montpelier area of North Bristol. The design follows Passivhaus principles for reducing energy consumption.
The clients came to me with a clear brief; to design a very low energy eco house which would significantly reduce the cost of their heating bills, but on a restricted budget.
The decision was taken at an early stage to follow passivhaus principles, whereby a combination of very high levels of insulation, strategies for airtightness and controlled ventilation would allow heated air to stay inside the building for longer.
Timber I-joists were used as the primary structural members which would allow the space between to be fully filled with over 400mm thickness of insulation. Junctions between elements (walls, roof, floor etc.) were carefully detailed and inspected on site to ensure a continuous airtightness layer. Both of these measures, whilst relatively inexpensive compared to the equivalent in standard housebuilding, provide a vast improvement to the energy efficiency.
The energy strategy ran parallel to developing a spatial arrangement which would work within the constrained site. We followed a plan for an 'upside down' house whereby all bedrooms are located on the ground floor leaving room for a fully open-plan living area and outdoor roof terrace above, maximising light and views for the spaces where the clients will be spending most of their time.This project completed on site at the end of 2016. energy usage is being monitored to evaluate the success of the strategies in place.