The rural site was once a walled kitchen garden for a Victorian country house which provided a wonderful variety of produce. The family and gardeners who tended the garden were renowned for their use of technology to create a self-sustaining settlement, for example through the rainwater harvesting system and use of glasshouses. Our design seeks to continue this legacy to create a sustainable and energy responsible home that both reflects the past and creates a sustainable future for the walled garden.
The one-storey home will be earth sheltered, with extensive glazing to the front elevation, to reflect the appearance of a traditional glasshouse and act as sunspaces to provide passive solar heating. Slimline steel window frames with an industrial galvanised aesthetic will create a delicate appearance of the building, retaining the garden as the focus. The T-shaped plan of the house also reflects the traditional grid layout of walled gardens and creates courtyard spaces that connect the internal rooms to the garden through biophilic design.
Internally, you will enter through a beautiful lobby, with glasshouse style sunrooms on either side. The central hallway provides access to two wings of the house with a sweeping circular staircase to a reading room lantern above. The lantern will allow daylight to permeate into the centre of the home and act as a passive ventilation stack to draw fresh air throughout. There is a large kitchen / dining / living room to the west wing where produce from the garden can be taken to the kitchen directly. Banks of herbs will be planted conveniently nearby to scent the air and enhance the sensory connection to the garden. The eastern bedrooms have wide glazed doors onto to the courtyard shared also with the master bedroom; all starting the day with morning sunlight. Direct access is provided to the upper vegetable gardens and orchards by external steps. Within the roof garden, banks of hot bed style cloche rooflights bring daylight into the rear greenhouse and circulation spaces also acting as photovoltaic panels to generate green energy.
The wider garden landscape design is restored as a kitchen garden with food production, livestock areas and flower gardens. Both courtyards will act as smaller walled gardens within the garden, sunken into the slope of the garden with glasshouses on the south facing walls and sheltering flanks to both sides. To the west there will be dramatic views of the tall trees where the family can gather and entertain visitors. The unique character and sense of place of the secluded walled garden is respected and enhanced through sensitive design that reflects the heritage values.
To further the sustainable legacy of the walled garden the house is designed to perform as a Passivhaus. Excellent air tightness performance and very high levels of insulation will reduce heat loss through the structure. Background ventilation will be provided via a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery to reuse heat produced in the house with passive stack ventilation through the lantern and sunspaces to prevent overheating. There will also be rainwater harvesting from the roofs for reuse in the garden irrigation and within the house.
As the custodians of our much-loved walled garden, we wanted to return it to its former glory so that it could be enjoyed by our family and passed on to future generations. From the outset, Kerry, Allan and the AJA team took the time to get to know us and our vision, as well as thoroughly researching the rich history of our walled garden. This understanding of our needs, as well as their genuine enthusiasm for our project, has meant the designs for our incredible earth sheltered eco-home are everything we dreamed they would be. Gaining Paragraph 80 planning permission was always going to be one of the biggest challenges throughout the process, and has required expertise, dedication and a passion for the project, which we all share, and we couldn’t be more delighted to have achieved this together. We have loved every chapter of the adventure so far and are excited for the next part of the process to begin of turning our dream home into a reality. Clients
As the custodians of our much-loved walled garden, we wanted to return it to its former glory so that it could be enjoyed by our family and passed on to future generations. From the outset, Kerry, Allan and the AJA team took the time to get to know us and our vision, as well as thoroughly researching the rich history of our walled garden. This understanding of our needs, as well as their genuine enthusiasm for our project, has meant the designs for our incredible earth sheltered eco-home are everything we dreamed they would be. Gaining Paragraph 80 planning permission was always going to be one of the biggest challenges throughout the process, and has required expertise, dedication and a passion for the project, which we all share, and we couldn’t be more delighted to have achieved this together. We have loved every chapter of the adventure so far and are excited for the next part of the process to begin of turning our dream home into a reality.
Clients
Planning permission was granted under the country house exception clause paragraph 80 in early 2023 and works are due to start on site in Spring 2024.
If you would like to have a chat with us about your project or want to learn more about the services we offer, we’d love you to get in touch.
design@ajaltd.co.uk
0115 841 8418