This simple, pared back design is the culmination of a successful collaboration between designer and client. Situated in an urban environment the scheme replaced a tired bungalow using its original foundations as the footprint. The building is designed and built to Passivhaus standards. This includes high levels of insulation and air-tightness, and triple glazed windows and doors with concealed external solar blinds.

Key considerations were the sympathetic siting of the building so as to respect the amenities of the adjacent properties. The client commissioned a garden designer at an early stage to provide an overall masterplan and planting scheme to integrate the building within its landscape using the carefully considered planting of native species suitable for the local soil type.

Externally, black stained timber with powder coated aluminium parapet caps and balustrade compliment the contemporary design, while internally the minimalist approach of clean, contemporary finishes achieve a balanced and calm living environment.

Blackwood won the Best Self Build in The Daily Telegraph Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2023.

Photography – Ed RS Aves