4orm

A competition entry for a community of 60 sustainable Passivhaus dwellings in an historic Hampshire town.

The apartments are arranged over three floors, in two buildings orientated to ensure that everyone can enjoy direct sunlight for a good part of each day. Each building has a central daylit circulation space roofed, on the southern aspect, with translucent photo-voltaic panels. The apartments are designed to be flexible in use, with generous double-aspect living spaces, and catering for a wide range of abilities. 

The buildings have been designed to minimise environmental impact in construction and use. The apartments are designed to Passivhaus principles with solid timber structural panels, triple glazing, recycled newsprint insulation, rainwater harvesting, whole dwelling ventilation with heat recovery and ground source heat pumps with the coils buried under the central landscaped space. Photovoltaic cells to the roof provide on-site renewable electrical generation. There will be negligible space heating and domestic hot water costs for each flat - less than the price of a cappuccino per month. 

Passivhaus design and building fabric standards achieve draught-free ventilation and extremely high internal comfort conditions in both winter and summer, creating an ideal environment for the target owner group – active or less so.