Air Tightness

We endeavour to design and detail buildings with a high level of airtightness. Having an airtight house means that its thermal performance is much more efficient with the warm air being unable to escape through the building fabric. It’s still very important to consider the airtightness of a building even if it has been very well insulated; the warm air will inevitably find it’s way out and you’ll have to pump the building with more heat to keep the ambient temperature stable.

We’re reaching the end of a barn conversion build at the moment and it was recently pressure tested to assess the level of air changes, or in laymans terms, how much air is leaking out of the building. The level achieved was an incredible 0.9 air changes/hour@n50, which surpasses not only the Building Regs target of 10 air changes/hour but also the Passivhaus retrofit target of 1.0 air changes/hour@n50.

This is an amazing result for a leaky old stone barn and has been achieved through careful and considered technical airtightness detailing, with diligent workmanship and attention to detail on site.

Archives
  • Recently completed projects – coming soon! - We had a busy few days photographing two completed projects to add to our portfolio. Both very different, but both following our core principles of energy efficiency, responding to context, collaboration and attention to detail.
  • Pre-cut timber I-beam system - We have been developing a pre-cut timber frame system to deliver highly insulated affordable buildings with increased on-site efficiency and minimised waste. The frame is designed, thermally modelled and optimised via BIM. A second process of Nesting ensures a minimum
  • Visit to project reaching completion - Some of our team recently visited a project which is reaching completion. It’s a multi-phased project and this first phase creates an annex for family members to live as they grow older. Situated in a farmyard, the form of the
  • We’re on The List by House & Garden! - We have been proud to be List members for the past 4 years. We are listed in the Directory and regularly featured in their Instagram Stories. Most recently our Low Energy Home was featured for a post on Open Plan Kitchen and Dining spaces.
  • Planning permission received for house in AONB - We have received planning permission for the extensive space planning of a house in Gloucestershire. The house sits in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and on a good sized plot. A project such as this presents an interesting challenge
  • Scheme for a GP’s Surgery - We have been working on a scheme to provide an improved GP surgery space within a Grade II* listed building. These sketches show a section through the existing listed terrace, restored gardens and mews building. By restoring the listed building
  • Grade II Listed Manor House wins an Award! - Our grade II listed manor house has won the Listed and Modern Traditional Residential Extension Architectural Award! The awards were recently featured in The Times Bricks & Mortar and we are thrilled with the result!
  • Section Sketches - We were asked to take a look at an existing scheme to ensure the most was being made out of the building and the site. We produced these sketches for the client to show alternative options on how their house
  • Grade II Listed House nominated for an award - Our Grade II Listed House has been nominated for an award! It’s currently appearing in the Listed Heritage Magazine published by the Listed Property Owners Club. It is being shown as an example of a sensitively designed extension to a listed building. It has
  • Flint and Timber House in Enki - The beautiful Flint and Timber House appears in the current issue of Enki – on the shelves now!  
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