Eco House in Westbury-on-Trym

The buyers of a house in Westbury–on-Trym had ambitions for an ultra low energy dream home. The existing 1950s dormer bungalow house was poorly insulated and had been awkwardly modified over the years to make it ill suited to modern family living. archipeleco’s brief was to secure planning approval for an enlarged home redesigned to an extremely high standard of energy efficiency using low impact materials and methods.

The solution was to gain additional space and light in the upper storey of the house by creating a new clerestory roof. This gave lots of extra space upstairs and dramatically increased natural light into the new rooms. The layout downstairs was rationalised and new connections to the garden were formed with new French doors located in key places. The entrance and front hall were reconfigured to make a welcoming entrance statement. This led into an open plan kitchen/living/dining area with sliding doors between rooms to allow flexible use of the space.

Roof integrated PV and solar thermal panels were installed. High performance windows with external blinds were installed. New external wall insulation was used to create a super insulated envelope. A sedum roof was used above the new roof over the entrance area. Underfloor heating and an MVHR system were also installed.