Foxglove House
Wiggington, Hertfordshire
The new dwelling replaces a small existing stable block with
a low visual impact low carbon 4-bedroom family home. Innovative massing and
orientation solutions are provided to ensure that the four-fold increased floor
area for the new house would not have any additional negative impact upon the
critical long views over open sensitive Greenbelt and AONB countryside location.
The design concept revolves around the development of a single storey courtyard
plan form, a typology that has been used very successfully in almost all
vernacular examples around the world but not so much in the UK. The plan is
comprised of an open square ‘doughnut’ single courtyard form. The site
orientation is such that the best views are towards the north facing down the
valley towards Ashridge Estate. The courtyard allows for a southern solar
aspect for north facing rooms.
KFM developed a design approach that has been led by a desire to mitigate
visual impact from the long views from across the valley and from the Ridgeway
trail routes to the north. The single storey building form of the same
silhouette as the previously existing stable block features overhanging eaves
that project forward from the envelop line. The resulting play of light creates
deep shadow underneath the roof and assists with overheating mitigation and breaking
up the façade when viewed from the critical vantage points. The external walls
have also been designed in a ‘zig-zag’ arrangement that creates a further set
of shadows in the vertical plane of the façade. The facades are therefore
broken down into areas of strong shadow contrast which helps blend the building
volume into the background of tall foliage.
The roof and main external envelop are oriented to be set out along the same
geometry as the original stable block. This however was not the best orientation
for maximising daylighting, passive solar gain and views from the inside. By
rotating the internal geometry by 45 degrees to that of the roof we have then
been able to maximise this potential such that rooms orient out at 45 and 135
degrees to the main building orientation.
The courtyard space in the centre of the plan provides a safe, discrete and
secure entrance route to the house. The glazing to the courtyard then permits
the building to maximise the southern orientation for daylighting and passive
solar gain strategies whilst also ensuring that light pollution to the
neighbouring properties is eliminated. The courtyard also enables a discrete
and private space within which the visual intrusion of domestic paraphernalia
for outdoor living can be contained.
The external cladding is constructed from natural low embodied energy materials
that last and weather well. The main materials on all the facades are brick and
lime mortar and pre-patinated copper. The brick is local waste brick sourced
from facilities at J.M. Matthews less than two miles away.
Waste
brick will generally be downcycled to crushed aggregates for roads.
The principle
of waste reuse we have developed has now been adopted by the brickworks as a ‘variety mix’ product line
available for purchase.
The construction system uses a Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) off site
manufactured system. By building most of the house off-site we were then able
to help reduce disruption to the local community and road network as well as
substantially reducing on site construction time and material wastage.
A ground + garage roof mounted solar array provides approx. 85-100% of all
energy needs, this includes 2 EV vehicles. Natural clay plasters are used
throughout the internal spaces and provide a beautiful healthy breathable
surface.
Natural England through numerous studies has shown that due to human
development within the UK many species of birds, bats and bees are in steady
decline. The project demonstrates how contemporary architecture and landscape
design can reverse this trend in a manner that is not prescriptive or
compromising on design quality. The random waste brick wall configuration was
highly controlled by working closely with local crafts people to create a
unique piece of biophilic architecture that simultaneously provides abundant
habitable spaces for bats, swifts/swallows and bees as well as local
flora.
A rewilding landscaping strategy has been embarked upon to turn the existing
eastern and southern meadows into areas of increased biodiversity through
strategic planting of native wildflowers and other flora. More than 97 per cent
of meadows have been lost since the 1930s and the remaining fragments have poor
legal protection. These areas will attract insects which, in turn, bring in
more birds and small mammals allowing nature to thrive. Recent bioacoustics
surveys have demonstrated a substantial uplift in bird numbers including 5 Red
Listed species such as the Spotted Flycatcher, Linnet and Swift.
Project Name: Foxglove House
Location:
Wiggington, Hertfordshire
Gross Floor Area (House): 285 m2
Project Credits
Architect: Kirkland Fraser Moor Architects
Client: Private
Contractor: Atkins PM
Quantity Surveyors: PCP Surveyors
Structural Engineer: Studio Allen
Landscape Architect: Bowles & Wyre
Building Services & Passivhaus Consultant: Aura
Low-Carbon Energy Systems: Aura
Electrical Engineer: Aura
Building Inspectors: Stroma
Ecology: MKA Ecology