Feature in Self Build and Design magazine
My Passive House is featured in an 8 page article in Self build and Design magazine February edition outlining the design and build process. The online version can be found here.
Winner – Guildford Society Design Awards 2020 Individual House category
I am very pleased to announce that my Design and build Passive House has won the Guildford Society Design Awards 2020 in the Individual House category. It is great to have the project recognised by local Architects and the Council and to receive the positive comments from the judges on their visit. "A beautifully [...]
Soft Landscaping
Reviving the front garden The front garden had been used as a storage area during the build and also had a 20 ton machine driving over it during demolition, leaving the ground heavily compacted and with quite a lot of pieces of rubble in it. The soil was just about good enough to not [...]
Driveway
Re-surfacing the driveway Most of the driveway area was the same as for the previous house so already had a tarmac covering over a well compacted base. I decided to increase the turning and parking area slightly so needed to add a compacted base layer in these areas. The tarmac installation was only a [...]
Hard Landscaping
Patio and retaining wall The previous house on the plot had a wall at the rear with steps down to the lawn. The new build was essentially on the same footprint but with a slightly increased patio area to the rear, requiring a new retaining wall about a meter further from the house. This [...]
Rendering the plinth
How to finish the exposed plinth on a passive raft foundation The passive raft system uses eps foam slabs to insulate the concrete raft underneath and up its sides, but this leaves an area of exposed foam between the finished ground level and the external cladding. Timber cladding should not normally be installed down [...]
Kitchen Install
Open plan kitchen The kitchen was designed by myself and built and installed by Box Hill Joinery, a local manufacturer. The kitchen is open plan in our main living space so needed to have a quality feel that I would be happy living with all the time. It is based around an island unit [...]
Staircase
The staircase is a simple straight run of solid oak treads and risers fixed to a wall on one side. This was to then have a handrail/under stair cupboard built from timber framing clad with fumed oak floorboards as used in the living room. The staircase was produced by Stairbox, an online supplier, who [...]
Trench digging
The majority of groundworks were completed prior to the erection of the timber frame but there were a few items left over that I decided to undertake myself. These were laying the pipework for surface water drainage and also a trench for a new water connection, phone connection and power and data to lighting [...]
Electrical & Home Automation
Home automation in a Passive House During the design stage I had to weigh up the use of home automation which I do not like if it is too obtrusive, with the need to both control external blinds for solar shading and also the desire not to have rows of switches which are common [...]