Pushing the boundaries of Passive House design and pre-fabricated Passive House construction, Anchorage is a carefully crafted home on the steep riverside in Wyre Piddle which overcame significant challenges including some strong local opposition to contemporary design within a traditional Conservation Area.  The planning permission for this Passive House (Certification pending) established the principle of residential use while striving to use sustainable materials such as locally sourced stone and minimal use of cements. 

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While the form of Passive Houses are typically simple, this timber-framed self-build exemplar stretches the boundaries of sustainable design to not be limited by traditional shapes but at the same time making the planning viable within the Conservation Area, adjacent to listed buildings and a public right of way.  Upside down living maximises the site, while the form contrasts a simple traditional aesthetic to the road elevation with a dynamic, angular and cantilevered river elevation which is the south facade and takes full advantage of the sun and river views. 

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The building stretches the capacity of the Beattie Passive timber frame with overhangs, angles and a partial subterranean level sat on an Isoquick foundation system with a Nudura ICF retaining wall to minimise waste and lowers the carbon footprint.  It has a designed energy usage of 13.1 kWh/m2/annum.

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A 20kW solar panel array provide for energy use including electric car charging, while the Passive House standard is met, using a high air tightness, super-insulated thermal envelope with Ideal Combi triple glazed windows and an MVHR system to avoid a space heating system. 

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This three bedroom home is versatile, innovative and future proofed, and crafts a sustainable and creative design exemplar which pushes the boundaries of pre-fabricated Passive House construction on a site which due to significant constraints and local opposition might easily have sat empty evermore.