Green design is always part of good design. Its building with the future in mind to create homes that help preserve the environment with improved energy use. Our ethos is to be environmentally effective and to sustainably design the future. 

 A challenging project

Our latest eco-project ‘The Duckeries’ is a fine example of sustainable residential Architecture, incorporating the latest innovative technologies and building methods to reduce demand on energy for occupation, as well as making the best use of responsibly sourced resources to produce a truly iconic green dwelling.
The project involved replacing a 1950’s built bungalow on an isolated rural plot. Essential to the brief for the project was to provide a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing dwelling which did not place the same demand on primary energy, and fossil fuel sources. The client had strong feelings on sustainability and required an innovative approach to this challenging design brief.

Our ethos

SA Architectural Services have a strong team of energetic young professionals, who specialise in incorporating sustainability into our designs. Our director James Sizer trained as a Certified Passivhaus Designer in 2017 to combine innovative design with a passion for sustainability. Passivhaus is a German method of highly insulated and ecologically friendly design to create architecturally inspirational ultra-low energy efficient and comfortable homes. Passivhaus designs are better insulated and much more airtight than regular builds. Thanks to the ventilation system to bring in fresh air and expel stale air, this means they are mould and condensation free with a constant comfortable room temperature. Buildings require a whopping 90% less heating energy than conventional homes therefore long-term minimal energy consumption means they are well worth the investment. The property is much greener and up to 3 times more efficient than fossil fuels for heating. The project was also carefully oriented on the site to harness solar energy for 20% of the heat demand during the winter months, provided by solar energy through the large glazed gable. Water demand was reduced by the use of efficient fittings, thus protecting the Broadland landscape, and anticipating the future demands in the district.

Environmental protection

This scheme had to take in the nature of the site and ecologically cause no damage to its immediate surroundings. Biodiversity issues were particularly challenging, the area was rich in European protected rare species of bats and the possibility of Great Crested Newts (inset right). It also held several mature trees which needed protecting for the amenity value of the immediate locale. Creative design solutions were used to reduce the depth of the foundations for the building to avoid negative impacts on the trees, this also had the further benefit of reducing the need for off-site disposal of excess soil, by road, to landfill. Guidance was sought from Chartered Ecologists TORC Ecology to ensure that the project did not result in harm to wildlife or Protected Species.

Sustainable solutions:

It was important to incorporate eco-friendly elements into this bespoke structure and embrace renewable solutions to ensure the project was environmentally responsible and reduce the carbon footprint of our activities, during construction, and in occupation. Thus mitigating the potential environmental damage which could be caused by more standard development. Careful selection of materials has prevented waste of available resources. Design, prefabrication, and waste treatment resulted in zero waste to landfill.

The external cladding materials were Marley Eternit Fibre slates which achieve an A+ rating in the Building Research Establishment’s Green Guide and the wooden clad volume specified as durable thermally modified Ash, which is an abundant renewable source from FSC forests in England. Internal fixtures and paving were predominantly sourced from end of line, ex demo, and excess stock sources, which would typically otherwise result in them entering waste streams.

There are many challenges to increasing the sustainability of our built environment. Our existing housing stock is woefully inefficient, depending almost entirely on fossil fuel solutions for heating. Changes to this need to be made if the government’s stated aim of a carbon neutral society by 2050 are to be achieved. The biggest barriers to these goals are awareness, viability, and engagement. Whilst the project presented here is clearly a good example of what can be achieved by an engaged client with a healthy budget, it is our ethos that sustainability must be inclusive, and we must break down these financial, and other significant barriers to making vital sustainable choices and educate the public in what is possible. We plan to expand our activities into mainstream housing in 2020, and harness offsite construction solutions for the design and implementation of market housing and social housing.

We have plans in place to move forward quickly in the implementation of these ideals. We have secured investment to continue our exciting work in Norfolk, The UK, and also internationally.  Our vision statement sums up our future plans perfectly:

“Today’s new buildings are tomorrow’s architectural heritage. Our vision is a world where the built environment inspires, nurtures, and avoids harm to nature, our heritage, and our people. We envisage building a community where depletion of non-renewable resources is entirely avoided”

There are wider benefits to society of this, and similar projects using novel combinations of responsibly sourced and generally relatively low-cost sustainable materials. This drives innovation in the use of financially viable construction methods, which can be used to increase the quality and speed of more standard builds. The quality of construction is also superior, and working on this project upskilled and educated all stakeholders on the important concepts of airtightness, and thermal bridging, thus increasing the local skills pool.

One Planet Norwich

SA Architectural Services are proud to support the annual One Planet Norwich, a Norfolk-wide network of eco events and experiences shining a spotlight on local positive action. They celebrate people, projects and schemes that demonstrate great commitment to creating a sustainable environment in the county.

‘The Duckeries’ has been nominated into the Eco small business category of the Norwich and Norfolk Eco Awards which recognizes unsung environmental individuals, projects and schemes with a strong environmentally-friendly ethos. We are looking forward to the official awards ceremony being held at The Halls, Norwich on 5 March 2020.

The One Planet Festival takes place over the weekend of 13th & 14th June 2020 to share ideas, make connections and develop conversations that focus making sustainable living a reality. SA Architectural Services will be hosting a stand in The Forum Norwich giving our Director James Sizer a public forum opportunity to chat to people regarding Passivhaus design.
Read more on the benefits of Passivhaus with our online guide. https://www.sastudio.co.uk/?p=free.guides
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95k-yNcbHLg