Houzz Tours
House Tours
Houzz Tour: An Environmentally Friendly Home in the Heart of the Forest
This light and airy family home in Hampshire was constructed using local materials and is packed with ecofriendly features
Built as an eco home, this family house in the New Forest is chock-full of environmentally friendly features, from the rainwater retrieval system to the eco paint on the walls. It took around a year to build and the owners moved in in December 2012. ‘They were hugely involved throughout the build,’ says Wendy Perring of PAD Studio, the architects behind this project. ‘They lived on site in a caravan throughout and helped out loads, digging foundations and doing a lot of the groundwork and wiring.’
The owners insisted the house be constructed to almost the highest grading of energy efficiency under the Code for Sustainable Homes. ‘They wanted to be as off-grid as possible,’ says Perring. The team at PAD Studio designed the house to be sustainable and low-impact, working with local materials throughout and using local craftspeople and labour. The result is a brilliantly energy-efficient home that’s beautifully designed for family life in the heart of the New Forest National Park.
The owners insisted the house be constructed to almost the highest grading of energy efficiency under the Code for Sustainable Homes. ‘They wanted to be as off-grid as possible,’ says Perring. The team at PAD Studio designed the house to be sustainable and low-impact, working with local materials throughout and using local craftspeople and labour. The result is a brilliantly energy-efficient home that’s beautifully designed for family life in the heart of the New Forest National Park.
The house sits on a plot of about five acres. ‘Originally, there was a sprawling chalet bungalow here, which had been built in the 1970s,’ says Perring. ‘It had terrible energy efficiency. Creating a new home that was super-low energy was the priority for the owners.’
The building’s style was conceived as a neat box encased by a crisp white wall. ‘A lime-rendered wall wraps around the bottom,’ says Perring. ‘The house reads as a timber box inserted into a wrapping wall.’
The house was designed and cleared through planning under the Code for Sustainable Homes. ‘The local council only required it to meet level 3, with 6 being the highest,’ says Perring, ‘but the owners pushed for the house to be a level 5.’ What this means in layman’s terms is that the house is packed with clever renewables and environmentally responsible features.
The house was designed and cleared through planning under the Code for Sustainable Homes. ‘The local council only required it to meet level 3, with 6 being the highest,’ says Perring, ‘but the owners pushed for the house to be a level 5.’ What this means in layman’s terms is that the house is packed with clever renewables and environmentally responsible features.
It has solar panels for a 3.8kWh system, a wood-burning boiler and wood-burning stove, and a mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system. ‘This mixes fresh air with recaptured heat, distributing it around the house and thus saving energy,’ says Perring. There is also a rainwater recovery system, which serves the toilets and washing machine. Outside, water reed beds naturally filter the black waste (sewage).
The old house was demolished to make way for the new, ecofriendly design, but the owners preserved some old garage and stable buildings to save money. ‘Rather than knock them down and build them again, we simply clad the existing 1970s structure in reclaimed timber, which the owners sourced,’ says Perring. ‘This feature links the outside to the inside, as the timber continues indoors, too.’
The house is clad in Douglas fir, which is indigenous in the New Forest. This has been treated with an ecofriendly ebony stain from Osmo. ‘The owners were holistically environmentally conscious and sourced everything locally or nationally,’ says Perring. ‘The roof slate is from Wales, not China, for example, while the timber cladding is English and the render is lime.’
A single-storey section of the house containing the living rooms opens onto a wide terrace. ‘It creates a nice feeling of proportion and breaks up the box design of the house a little,’ says Perring. There is a living, sedum roof above.
A hidden gutter runs all along the exterior under the roof. ‘The guttering is fitted into a slot designed into the roof,’ says Perring. ‘It means the roof looks really clean and sharp.’
Find out more about installing a green or ‘living’ roof
A hidden gutter runs all along the exterior under the roof. ‘The guttering is fitted into a slot designed into the roof,’ says Perring. ‘It means the roof looks really clean and sharp.’
Find out more about installing a green or ‘living’ roof
The reclaimed timber used to clad the garage outside continues inside, wrapping the staircase and running the full height of the house. ‘This is a double-height space,’ says Perring. ‘Immediately as you come in, you see this timber wall stretching up and when you look up, you see the bridge above with its glass balustrade.’
Discover how to use timber in exciting ways
Discover how to use timber in exciting ways
The bridge with glass balustrades on the upper floor links the study to the master bedroom. The glass helps light to travel through the house and also means the beautiful cladding is never obscured.
The staircase, with its solid oak steps, is set into the central wall, which is clad in reclaimed timber. The flooring is local Purbeck stone. ‘The owners went to the quarry and selected the stone themselves,’ says Perring.
Wondering whether a stone floor is right for your home? Check out this expert advice
Wondering whether a stone floor is right for your home? Check out this expert advice
The house has an open, flowing design, with built-in furniture helping to zone and define the space. Here, bespoke cupboards flank the kitchen to the right and help create a passage that leads through this informal living space and on into the larger living area at the end.
‘We designed all the joinery that sits between the kitchen and the living space,’ says Perring, ‘but the owners sourced the kitchen cabinets.’ The cabinets had been installed in a stand at a kitchen design show, but never really used, and the owners snapped them up for a bargain price. ‘They were really hands-on about finding local materials, but also sensibly priced pieces,’ says Perring.
Sleek black units are teamed with Corian worktops and a spacious fridge-freezer, giving the kitchen a clean, contemporary feel.
Fridge-freezer, Fisher & Paykel.
Fridge-freezer, Fisher & Paykel.
Downstairs, the house is open and airy, with a series of rooms flowing off one another, divided by low partitions and height changes. ‘It was very deliberate to have a change in the level,’ says Perring. ‘It’s a nice thing to do and it also works with the site, which slopes a bit. It was more economical to build with it.’
This wood-burning stove is the primary source of heat in the whole house. It works with the mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system, recirculating the air through the other rooms so the whole house stays warm. ‘The house is also super-insulated,’ says Perring, ‘with triple glazing everywhere.’
Wood-burning stove, Stuv.
This wood-burning stove is the primary source of heat in the whole house. It works with the mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system, recirculating the air through the other rooms so the whole house stays warm. ‘The house is also super-insulated,’ says Perring, ‘with triple glazing everywhere.’
Wood-burning stove, Stuv.
A spacious living space at one end of the property opens onto the terrace outside through sliding doors. This section of the house has oak flooring, rather than stone, creating a subtle mood change and clever zoning.
‘This oblong window lines up with the whole spine of the house,’ says Perring. ‘When you come in through the front door and turn right, you look down the house and see it, framing the view.’
The grey wall is painted with an ecofriendly, high-performance paint in a similar shade to Farrow & Ball’s Mizzle.
Paint, PaintPlus. Oak flooring, Lordrite.
‘This oblong window lines up with the whole spine of the house,’ says Perring. ‘When you come in through the front door and turn right, you look down the house and see it, framing the view.’
The grey wall is painted with an ecofriendly, high-performance paint in a similar shade to Farrow & Ball’s Mizzle.
Paint, PaintPlus. Oak flooring, Lordrite.
A neat bath slots into the master en suite, which is lit by a low window. ‘The bath is only about 1500mm long, so it fits in perfectly,’ says Perring, ‘and it’s made from volcanic limestone!’
Ios bath, Victoria & Albert.
Ios bath, Victoria & Albert.
The master bedroom faces east, with beautiful, uninterrupted views and a terrace outside. ‘There are blinds fitted that go up into the ceiling,’ says Perring. ‘They’re actually designed for boats.’
Find out more about making your home – or new extension – more ecofriendly
TELL US…
What do you like about this environmentally friendly home? Add your thoughts to the Comments below.
Find out more about making your home – or new extension – more ecofriendly
TELL US…
What do you like about this environmentally friendly home? Add your thoughts to the Comments below.
Who lives here A family of four
Location Near Lymington in the New Forest, Hampshire
Property A newly built eco home
Size 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Architect Wendy Perring of PAD Studio
That’s interesting One wood-burning stove provides enough heat for the entire house