Bere:Architects - Lark Rise, Chiltern Hills

Project Overview

This all-electric, Plus Energy Passive House home is designed to produce two and a half times more energy in a year than it consumes. Even its winter energy demand is so small that with a 12kWp PV array, together with a 12kWh battery, the house has potential to become energy-independent.
The hybrid construction consists of:
• A lower floor of in situ, fair-faced concrete, cut into a North facing slope.
• An upper floor with eight in situ, fair-faced structural concrete columns and two concrete beams, over which is draped the timber envelope.
• A roof consisting of 40no, 10-metre-long prefabricated box beams that support the 12-metre-long glazed façade and provide a self-finished acoustic finish.
The result combines the advantages of two complimentary systems:
1. The strength and thermal mass of waterproof concrete retaining walls.
2. The coolness in summer and warmth in winter of concrete when externally insulated with 400mm of insulation.
3. The inherent air-tightness of concrete.
4. The lightness and speed of erection of timber-framed wall panels filled with 300mm of mineral wool insulation.
5. The ease with which timber walls can be made air-tight.
6. The combined beauty of fair-faced concrete and natural wood.

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