Webinar: One-off homes: think outside the box

One-of-a-kind homes are perennially interesting for architects, as RIBA Journal managing editor Isabelle Priest, witnesses regularly. So no wonder that PiP’s webinar, bringing together a range of award-winning projects and product insights from sponsors Maxlight and Tile of Spain, was a popular one.

On a sombre note, ‘Britain has some of the oldest and lowest-performing housing stock in Europe,’ says Priest, but these case studies of one off houses illustrate how, with the right client-architect partnership, sustainable design can be done well and creatively.

Marion Baeli, partner at Studio PDP, is author of Residential Retrofit (RIBA, 2023) which scrutinises materials, costs, post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) and other metrics of 20 bespoke homes of different construction types across the UK. In partnership with CIBSE, the book looks back to her previous publication, Retrofit for the Future (RIBA, 2014), investigating whether these projects succeeded. Researchers posed questions about energy use, air-tightness, thermal layering, detailing, indoor air quality, MEP systems, moisture, allergens, U-values and user experience.

‘We wanted to show the industry the failings and successes’, explains Baeli, so revisiting these homes was revealing. While some sustainability best practice has evolved since these projects, Baeli draws attention to the LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide for up-to-date recommendations.

Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association) next ran through the manufacturing process of a ceramic tile, outlining how climate-conscious production, coupled with the material properties of ceramic, make an environmentally sound choice. She presented several case studies including the AA House by Ova Studio, with its large expanses of white tiles reflecting heat and light, and the Arcos House by La Erreria office, where interior wall and floor tiles mitigate humidity damage. In Ripoll-Tizón’s House in Puntiró, Mallorca, tiles work with the structure itself, creating a balance between tradition and industrial modernity. Ceramic tiles are shown to be thermally efficient, low toxicity, fire-safe and durable.

From Spain to Cirencester via Japan, Nicholas Lyons, founder of Lyons Architects, introduces the RIBA Award-winning home Blackbird, which is raised above a newly-made lake. Repurposed excavated materials, a submerged water-source heat pump, grey water harvesting and MVHR contribute to the eco strategy, as does the lake itself for cooling.

Deep eaves and a low profile roof are inspired by Kengo Kuma’s Water Cherry House, near Tokyo, which also nestles into its surroundings; the dark, quiet materials palette, including Kebony timber and Shou Sugi Ban treated wood cladding, enables Blackbird’s architecture to recede. The black lustre of the surface lends the home its name. ‘There are some real learning points we can take from Japanese architecture and culture generally,’ rounds off Lyons, referring to the strong impact his stint there had on his design ethos.

Claire Taggart, associate at Hayhurst and Co, next discusses Green House, a five-bed family home in Tottenham. Set in a conservation area, near woodland, with keen gardeners for clients, the home is a reimagining of a domestic greenhouse. Green House went on to become the RIBA’s 2023 House of the Year.

The heart of the house is a double height central space which brings light in from above (flats on both sides prevented side facing windows). Connected family, and views to the landscaped surroundings from front and back were prioritised. Meanwhile, partitions between bedrooms are studwork rather than CLT (as the rest of the structure) to enable future configurations.

Elevations are visibly greened; the front, south-facing facade gives shading and a play of sunlight through its polycarbonate panels, while bamboo planting provides privacy. Sliding panels enable the house to be completely opened or closed when needed, facilitating natural ventilation. The opposite facade is clad in agricultural roofing – lightweight and cost effective. ‘We had fun with the materials,’ says Taggart, with breeze block patio paving bought by the clients off Gumtree, and upstairs flooring in hardwearing recycled cork-rubber material. The clients made their own bath panels from recycled jesmonite. Heating is through an air source heat pump. ‘We feel fortunate to live in such a considered design,’ said the client.
Glazing supplier and sponsor Maxlight’s presentation also focused on sustainability with managing director Anthony Culmer drawing on such projects as Platform 5’s Backwater House in the Norfolk Broads and Sartfell Cottage on the Isle of Man by Foster Lomas – areas whose watery and blustery climates put Maxlight’s windows, pivot doors and oriel windows to the test, with stylish and successful results. Maxlight uses only toughened glass to make its products particularly strong; these are also the thinnest glazing options on the market, as well as reassuringly water-tight.

Finally, Ann Nisbet discusses the multi-award winning Cuddymoss – an old agricultural building converted into a family home. The client, a bird photographer, needed a property which engaged with the ‘tactile undulating landscape’ of its surroundings, and moreover saw himself as the home’s  ‘custodian’ rather than ‘owner’. Responding architecturally to this, the intervention is removable; it takes the form of a timber structure inserted inside the ruin, with the windows set back from the original openings, creating deep reveals. Steelwork is likewise exposed internally, allowing the timber insertion to be removed easily in future.
This project has garnered accolades for embracing a circular economy: all but one of the original lintels were reused and 20% of the slate on the roof was salvaged. Stone coping was taken from a nearby ruin. Dalry brick, to match the original and infill one opening, was found by the client in a fly-tipping site. One new opening was given an aluminium frame so that its ‘different language’ would be more honest.
Gaps in the walls have given homes to swallows and swifts. A ground-source heat pump was installed as well as an MVHR system and a water borehole. An additional, adjoining structure is made of naturally weathered larch to not compete with the ruin. An ‘honest, gentle take on a house’ to round off a seminar of well-considered and beautiful homes.

Sponsored by: Maxlight and Tile of Spain