1704_Wuduhus Huntingdon House, Cambridgeshire property images, English building photos, UK architecture
1704_Wuduhus, Huntingdon Home
15 July 2022
1704_Wuduhus is one of the UK’s best new homes
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the longlist for the 2022 RIBA House of the Year. The shortlist and winner are to be revealed on Channel 4’s Grand Designs: House of the Year.
RIBA House of the Year 2022 Winners
29 May 2022
Location: Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, southeast England, United Kingdom
Design: Mole Architects
Photos by Matt Smith
1704_Wuduhus in Huntingdon is one of 17 projects which received a 2022 RIBA East Award.
1704_Wuduhus Huntingdon House in Cambridgeshire
Jury Report
This project has been driven by a client with a very clear sense of destination – the creation of a place to live after retiring as a city headteacher with as little environmental impact as possible: a desire for compact self-sufficiency. Having identified a site on the edge of a fen village she contacted Mole Architects to design her an appropriate house.
What emerged is an exemplar of the Passivhaus approach: an upside-down arrangement with a first floor kitchen, living room and bedroom looking out for miles over the surrounding fens at both the back and front of the house, while the ground floor offers more introverted spaces, including a spare bedroom, utility spaces and study. Externally, well-detailed larchboard cladding combined with a butterfly roof and celebratory rainwater pipe offer a light-hearted reference to the agricultural tradition of farm buildings on the edge of fen settlements.
The client is evidently delighted, proudly indicating the house’s energy use, which regularly hovers close to zero. Her eminently practical approach has led to the installation of a lift and mid-level power sockets, in anticipation of future decline in mobility. Potential maintenance blackspots – such as beneath the kitchen cupboards – have been left exposed, allowing easy detection of leaks and access.
Although the design has not formally attained Passivhaus certification, it satisfies the principles set out by the approach. Actual energy use as a result addresses the RIBA 2025 benchmark, while the substantial contribution from onsite photovoltaics delivers its near off-grid operation.
Throughout the construction it demonstrates considerable attention to embodied carbon considerations, by utilising timber structurally (with cellulose insulation), as well as in cladding and finishing treatments. Even the decorative floor and paint finishes commendably include the application of bio-based alternatives. Furthermore, the project includes a rainwater harvester and several features to conserve water, as well as a notable garden with vegetable plots to exemplify the owner’s quest to achieve a self-sufficient lifetime home.
1704_Wuduhus Huntingdon House – Building Information
Title: 1704_Wuduhus
RIBA region: East
Architect practice: Mole Architects
Date of completion: April 2019
Date of occupation: April 2019
Client: Joan Morters
Project city/town: Huntingdon
Contract value: Confidential
Gross internal area: 132.26 m²
Net internal area: 115.60 m²
Cost per m²: Confidential
Contractor company name: Burmor
Consultants
Environmental & Timber Frame: Beattie Passive
Structural Engineers: HA consulting
Awards
• RIBA Regional Award
• Regional Small Project of the Year
Photographs: Matt Smith
1704_Wuduhus Huntingdon House images / information received from the Royal Institute of British Architects
Location: Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, south east England, UK
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