When Blyth Valley Borough Council commissioned the design and construction of two dwellings on Twentieth Avenue, the brief to the developer was to start with a clean slate and deliver low-energy homes built to Code Level 3 for the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH), with strong appeal to prospective tenants. As an infill site within an existing housing estate, the design of the new houses also needed to blend seamlessly with the existing development.
The finished homes not only created a long waiting list of prospective tenants, but the performance exceeded expectations: while designed to meet CSH Level 3, the homes could comfortably achieve CSH Level 4 with the simple addition of a photo voltaic panel.
The developer, South Close Developments Ltd, took a fabric-first approach, prioritising energy efficiency through the building envelope. The specification centred on a high-performance building fabric to minimise energy loss and ensure long-term reliability.
The insulated structure was built using Beco WALLFORM 313, coupled with solid ground and first floors and warm roof construction. The designed choice significantly minimised thermal losses and allowed for a smaller heating system in each home. The U-value of the walls was an impressive 0.19 W/m²K, and air tightness tests returned a value of 1.9 m³/hr, which was well below typical thresholds, allowing roof-mounted solar panels to effectively provide both domestic hot water and contribute to underfloor heating.
Now managed by Homes for Northumberland, the design of these prototype dwellings may be further developed and revised to meet the varying requirements of different locations and communities in the region