Sustainable Homes
Designing your Dream Sustainable Home
The look, feel and impact on people and the planet matters to us when designing your dream home. Whether you have grand designs for a new Passivhaus, or are looking to self-build a low-cost eco home, at Footprint Architects we work with you through every step to create a bespoke, sustainable house design that meets your needs and aspirations.
Embracing your unique home design brief
From restoring a Grade II listed farmhouse to designing accommodation for ex-service personnel, no two projects are ever the same for us. However, we know how to overcome the common challenges you might face along the way. Whatever your brief, we’ll focus on providing sustainable solutions and passive house standards to create a home for the future, while sticking to your budget and timelines.
Why Choose Us?
We’re an RIBA Chartered Practice
Footprint Architects is an RIBA Chartered Practice, this means we are dedicated to the highest standards of architectural professionalism and ethics. All of our architects hold the relevant architectural qualifications and are registered with the Architects Registration Board ARB.
Specialist Knowledge of Sustainable Homes
Committed to sustainability, we integrate eco-friendly practices and materials into all our home projects. We have worked on a number of new-build homes and have successfully incorporated affordable sustainable features such as high quality sustainable timbers, reclaimed bricks and integration of renewable energy.
Assist in gaining planning permission
We know the planning process may be a dauting task but our team have develop strong working relationships with local planning authorities and have a good understanding of what will and won’t likely be accepted. Our experience over the years will help guide you through the process.
We’re adept at using the latest VR technologies to help you visualise your home
Our team have led and delivered a series of homes utilising VR Technologies to help our clients better visualise their dream homes.
Our Home Projects
An award winning affordable self-build, eco-friendly home focusing on passive house design principles
An award-winning modern farmhouse refurbishment, barn conversion and house extension to a Grade II Listed house
Our Home Expertise
- Passive house buildings
- Self-build homes
- Sustainable house designs
- Low-cost residential developments
- Masterplanning
- Low-Energy Eco Homes
- Contemporary New Builds
- Affordable Housing and Apartments
- Green Developments
- Conservation and Refurbishment of Grade Listed Buildings
- Residential Community Developments
Our simple approach to designing your dream eco home
1. Fabric First
Footprint Architects adopt a fabric-first approach to all new homes that we design. Enhancing the thermal envelope and airtightness is a simple but highly effective way to reduce energy consumption.
- High levels of insulation in the walls, floors and roof to keep the heat in
- Maximising airtightness to reduce cold draughts
- Positioning windows to maximise heating from the sun in the winter
- Using thermal mass to keep homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter
- Orienting homes to maximise shading
This low-tech approach ensures that the buildings we create are easy to use, have low running costs, are simple to maintain, and are healthy environments to live in.
2. Passive House
Passivhaus, or Passive House, is a highly effective energy and comfort standard for sustainable house design. Passivhaus standard buildings use lots of insulation, fresh air, natural daylight and the sun to create high performing homes that maintain a constant temperature, all year round.
It’s an exciting alternative to regular heating. Instead of standard, inefficient boilers and radiators, a passive house building is fitted with high levels of insulation and a simple, low energy ventilation system, meaning you can avoid heating even in the depths of winter!
At the start of a project we carefully analyse your site, taking full advantage of the site’s natural features when we design your dream home. We work closely with expert energy assessors to provide virtual modelling of your new eco house design, enabling us optimise the building specification and achieve Passivhaus standard certification. Our approach means that a passive house design can create amazing buildings, that are low energy and cheap to run.
The benefits of Passive House
- A large reduction in energy and carbon usage
- Extremely low energy bills
- Airtight, draught free homes – around 20 times more airtight than standard!
- A cleaner, healthier environment with improved air quality
3. Sustainable Materials
At Footprint Architects we like to select sustainable, locally sourced building materials that look beautiful and have low embodied carbon. We prefer to select products that are easy to maintain, last a life time and can be recycled in the future. In recent projects we have:
- Used low carbon concrete that replaces 80% of the cement with waste by-products from other industries
- Re-used 52 tonnes of hardwood to create sustainable cladding
- Used 100% recycled plastics that are 100% recyclable to create imaginative interiors
4. Renewable Energy
Installing sources of renewable energy to your home, such as solar PV panels, solar thermal hot water or air source heat pumps are a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and save on bills. At Footprint Architects we advocate the inclusion of renewable energy sources to all new modern eco homes that we design.
5. Re-use
The idea is simple, demolish as little as possible and re-use the existing structure to reduce carbon emissions. Retrofitting typically involves a significant improvement in the thermal performance of the existing building fabric to create a warm and comfortable home.
At Footprint Architects we use our expertise to carefully and sensitively design relevant energy efficiency improvements to existing properties, making them fit for modern living whilst reducing energy consumption.
Can you upgrade and an existing home to Passivhaus standards? Yes, you can retrofit older properties so that they function along the same passive house principles, although it’s not usually possible to reach the same levels of insulation as a new build, significant energy saving of between 75 and 90% are possible.
The Passivhaus Institute does have a separate certification that recognises appropriate retrofitting, this is known as EnerPhit ‘Quality-Approved Energy Retrofit with Passive House Components.’
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get planning permission?
We pride ourselves on our planning success rate and have built a great relationship with the planning offices in Dorset and Hampshire. Our record of successful applications means we understand how to approach the process, but as with every project, the process differs from scheme to scheme. If you would like to know more about the planning process, we have put together a brief guide for you. You can download this above, or follow the link below.
Do you work with listed buildings and projects in conservation areas and national parks?
Yes! We have a very successful planning approval rate, including success in the green belt and the New Forest National Park. We were also awarded the Winner of the New Forest National Park Building Design Awards 2019 for Best Conservation to a listed farm house.
How much will my project cost?
This is dependent on many varying factors, including whether you are extending, renovating, converting or building a new home. There are also a number of different elements that will effect the outcome of cost, including varying site conditions, the age and existing condition of your property, history of the site, and more.
It is common to quote square metre rates and whilst this is a good starting point, the overall project spend has to consider:
- the specification of interior finishes and fixtures, which could double the cost of your project from a house of standard specification
- abnormal site conditions – ground conditions, site access, drainage, tree roots etc.
- legal and professional fees (including the cost of borrowing) and surveys
- renewable energy investment
We have a wealth of experience from our varied projects completed over the last 10 years, so please feel free to contact us and we will be able to help you build a picture of the likely cost for your project. There are also some great online resources and we’d recommend visiting the Home Building and Renovating website, which is a great place to start.
https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/the-ultimate-build-cost-guide/
Get Your Project Off The Ground
Get in touch today to kick-start your project. Let us know a few details and we’ll be in touch to discuss bringing your vision to life.
