Strawbale building, hickling, norfolk, passiv house

A special thank you to all the people who have come to help over the last few weeks, great progress!

1 roof rafters in place

2 dormer cheeks craned in

3 foamglass upstand

4 straw arrives - summer wheat

5  so far

6  fire boarding, taped

 

7 dressing bales

8 'the pursuader' a very useful piece of equipment

9 Paul Jennings explains!

10 moisture monitors in place

11 monitor with fixed probes

12 compression with car jacks

13 Twisting the hazel stakes in to pin the straw bales together

14 thatcher's fixings and reed thatch

15 thatcher setting out verge

Eco-Hub article on low-tech / high-tech fusion

... by Amanda Birch, worth a read!

17th International Passivhaus conference: highlights from Fran Bradshaw

ABG plenary talk, ABG are like the Co-op but operate in housing -  private and social, and everything else you can build  - car parks, offices, banks, police stations, nurseries. Apparently a quarter of Frankfurt's population live in one of their houses/flats, they've built 2000 passivhaus flats/houses and have 4000 more in the pipeline. Their slogan is 'passivhaus rechnet sich', (passivhaus pays).

The equivalent to the Head of Building Control - from Heidelberg City, describing how they are building 1700 new passivhaus flats/houses with mixed use development for 5000 jobs on an old goods yard site. All buildings are required to be developed to Passivhaus standard, PHPP is required with details as building control drawings are submitted, with follow up and site inspections. True it did look from the images as if white render/cladding was obligatory, but my prejudice!

ATA at the 17th International Passivhaus Conference

... And Fran will be talking about retrofit.
See you in Frankfurt 19-21 April 2013!

Trees before buildings in Norfolk

We thought we should share more of our other projects -  apart from the much blogged about Eco Hub! - that we have on at the moment. This is a site in Norfolk where we are designing a new Passivhaus, straw bale, thatched roof cottage. Trees before buildings - so some apple trees being planted, and willow hedges chosen. Exciting times ahead!

Never mind the stalls, it's the people that matter

Overdue Ecobuild reviews by Kate and Fran

Last week's Ecobuild was an interesting few days. Fran's discussion of the use of natural materials in retrofit demonstrated that a more thoughtful choice of material and method creates a tailored approach which is far more successful. Fran was joined by Mark Elton of ECD Architects whose Wilmcote House is a nice example of resident inclusive retrofit design. However he also showed some worrying photos revealing the implications of rushed retrofits and ignorant funding schemes. Also of note was Francine Houben of Mecanoo Architecten with her inspiring account of their approach to sustainable public spaces, a culturally challenging debate on retirement co-housing, and some well attended PassivHaus seminars.
Kate, Part I at ATA


Ecobuild its usual self, in that the pleasure is all in the people - those I hoped to see, and the unexpected and joyful meetings. Star of the show for me was Sabine Leribaux, of Architectes Associés who designed Aeropolis, 'the largest operational passive energy building in Brussels' who spoke at the Passivhaus evening celebration. She talked about 'freedom and human rights'  arguing for our responsibility for global sustainability and the ethical choice we make as building professionals. This was a world away from techno discussions about thermal bridging and air tightness, and a wonderfully sane and lucid talk.

Of course I think thermal bridging and airtightness detailing are are both essential -  and gripping subject matter, and was talikng about them myself at the seminar on 'What can we afford to spend on our existing buildings'.  Mark Elton make a powerful case 'can we afford NOT to'.  Seminars were lively, and discussions varied - never mind the stalls, it's the people that matter!

Fran 

UK Passivhaus Conference 2012 visits

The UK Passivhaus conference #UKPHC12
was full of tantalising glimpses into projects one wants to know much more about!

What did you think about our presentation of the EcoHub?

Conference exhaustion was followed by site visits - see people above - listening to the Headteacher at Architype's charming school. I found most interesting the stories about less use of athsma inhalers at the school, and at Interserve's office, they had just checked statistics and found significantly reduced sick leave. 

Also the cool (rather than warm)  boiler room at Oak Meadow school was impressive!

Don't forget this year's Passivhaus conference!

This year's Passivhaus conference, taking place on 7 - 9th November in Nottingham, will surely be another great event, possibly the best of the year for sharing experiences and learning from great minds about all things passivhaus. We look forward to the fantastic line-up of knowledgeable speakers and site visits. Fran will be there discussing the Ecohub project. More info and programme here. We hope to see you there!

Open House London 2012 Update

On the 22nd September, we will be at Centre 404 (Islington) and Eco-hub (site plan, Lordship Recreation Ground, Haringey) between 1-5 pm for Open House 2012. We are looking forward to seeing you.

We had expected the completion of the Eco-hub by now but Vinci Construction UK Ltd have been there for final touch. Therefore, the cafe has not been ready yet, but there will be our guided tour , presentation sheets and a lot of fun and food in the park by the Lordship Rec Festival.

See beautiful new river in the park! Also, the nearest Open House, which you may visit, is the Bruce Castle Museum along with a fantastic lion scaffolding sculpture, 'Park Art in Haringey' in the garden.

Eco-hub shortlisted for sustainability award

The Eco-hub at Lordship Park has been been shortlisted in the category of 'Sustainable Project of the Year' by the Builder and Engineer Awards 2012! Good choice!

External Porch

 

A well ventilated & beautiful porch - reminded me about a Passive House. An external porch should be clearly outside the thermal envelop and ventilated in order to avoid condensation.

Photographs from my summer trip in Japan.

Junko