CEDAR HOUSE

The clients wished to self-build their forever home on a stunning site in the Suffolk countryside.  The brief was to create a home that was dramatic and engaged fully with the garden and wider countryside, built with very low embodied carbon and to a tight budget, and to be low-energy in-use.

The site is orientated east-west, tucked behind a string of existing properties, and is positioned on a slight rise in the landscape when viewed from the north.

The eastern and northern elevations to the building are therefore purposefully low-profile to respect this privacy and setting, and to enhance the sense of ‘stealth’ on the approach to the building which was requested by the clients.

The building then rises as an ultra-restrained ‘wedge’ form to the south and west, entirely-clad in western red cedar shingles, creating a subtle but striking object in the landscape, and by vaulting all ceilings, the internal spaces are inherently dramatic too.

The simple form with minimised edges is inherently less complicated to build and retains more heat within the property.  The home was self-built using prefabricated timber panelsfilled with 300mm of mineral wool insulation.  

The design was assessed using the Passivhaus Planning Package design tool to optimise natural gains and limit heat losses.

Prefabrication helped accelerate the construction, significantly reduced the carbon footprint, and achieved an air tightness of 1ACH (air changes per hour), testament to both the simplified design and the high quality of workmanship by the self-build clients.