Low energy self-build house
TWA’s self-build house is designed to be energy efficient, benefit from passive solar heating gains and lots of natural light. The kitchen, living room, and dining space have large areas of glazing, and are located to the south elevation; whilst areas with naturally smaller areas of glazing, such as the bathrooms, utility room, and porch are located to the north, helping to minimise heat loss.
Focus is placed on a compact service design to reduce lengths of ducts and pipes; and circulation kept to a minimum, in order to maximise living space and reduce cost.
Future provision for unassisted accessible living is guaranteed by supplying a spacious accessible bedroom and a bathroom on the ground floor. This makes the house a lifetime home.
The stair to the first floor is centred on the plan to allow for two generous bedrooms, one of them ensuite, and a library space on the upper floor, all of which are provided with roof windows for natural light.
Cladding materials are optional, and include: white render, corrugated metal, and Scottish Larch.
The house can be also configured to different options for energy use: standard or improved level of insulation, double or triple glazed windows, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery unit, PV panels, or microhydropower or wind electric systems.
The gross internal area is 149 square metres.
