Mayfield Passivhaus

The concept of the new house revolved around the formal structure of the landscaped gardens, with the axis of the main approach driveway from the west of the Sharnden estate to the mature Cedar trees to the east of the grounds being a key generator for the building geometry and the generator of the entrance hallway, which occupies a three storey atrium in the zone where the two wings of the house overlap and intersect.

The environmental aspiration of the Client to create a house heated with minimal demand from fossil fuels led to our adoption of the Passivhaus design approach, with this becoming the first Passivhaus project for the Client and Architect alike. The 450m2 six bedroom house is heated in peak demand times with less than 4.5KW of heat input, or the equivalent of a pair of electric fan heaters, boasting high energy efficiency, but also extremely high levels of environmental comfort.