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FROM THE EDITOR


P


assivhaus turns 35 this year, but it still feels new to many. There are some great examples of Passivhaus at scale – St Sidwells Leisure Centre in Exeter (soon to be eclipsed in size by Eclipse Leisure Centre in Spelthorne), Agar Grove affordable housing in London, the legendary Goldsmith Street Stirling Prize-


winner in Norwich. These are high-profi le schemes, as are the student accommodation at Purdown View in Bristol, the largest overall scheme and the urbanest in Battersea, the largest single building, housing over 850 students. We also now have Trafalgar Square student housing, a 100-home block of fl ats in Salford, and not forgetting Barratt London committing to build all of its new homes being Passivhaus. But as we found out at our recent round table (together with sponsors Ubbink, Technal and Aeroseal), in the mainstream it’s still a case of unrealised potential in the UK. Germany, Austria, and even the US are producing quiet, draught-free, comfortable places to live and work over 50,000 m2


. It’s far from a Grand Designs single- per square metre can range up to 3000 m2


home model, where the economies of scale mean they are not going to break the bank. But how are large-scale projects being made cost-effective in practice – we found out at the round table, including how building physics ingeunity was being brought to bear, rather than large-scale projects being led by the tech. As so often, early engagement of Passivhaus Designers (and possibly Certifi ers) can be the answer, as several cultural precepts need to be shifted around to enable the rigour required. There are various examples showing that Passivhaus does not have to be prohibitively expensive – Agar Grove in Hackney’s Phase 1A GEA was £2044, not far above the average, and 2019’s Stirling Prize winner Goldsmith Street in Norwich, with economies of scale, achieving a relatively unscary 1,875 per m2 .


– considering that cost The idea of a building’s quality is being recalibrated by growing numbers of Passivhauses – as the planet An Employee Owned Company


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warms, how a building feels is as important, if not more important than how it looks. These are tangible benefi ts for residents and workers and users, and hopefully growing data on schemes will help to bolster the case for wide-scale investment in Passivhaus.


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Scotland is due to bring legislation this year on its ‘equivalent’ to Passivhaus for all new homes. But partial approaches can be risky – with the full package being designed to avoid perverse performance outcomes. Our round table (full report soon) delved into whether it is all-or-nothing, but also why full Passivhaus is not as scary as it may seem. In our second half Question Time, sponsors again got the chance to pose their practical challenges to specifi ers and consultants – from the perspectives of MVHR, facades, and sealing alternatives, all key to getting cost-effective Passivhaus schemes over the line. We also looked at how ‘overdesign’ is a thing, and how schemes can, and should, be revisited to trim them down to size. The bottom line is the industry needs to forget the ‘that’ll do’ approach, and embrace a – at the very least – painstaking focus on the details, from thermal bridges to taping everything. Everyone needs to be in the room, and our round table was a great embodiment of this. With the Government not intervening, it’s up to us.


James Parker, Editor


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GÍGUR VISITOR CENTRE, ICELAND Nissen Richards Studio voyages to a remote part of Iceland for a joint venture design that embraces its surroundings


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A redesigned visitor centre in a remote part of Iceland saw a collaboration between British and Icelandic practices to immerse visitors in the landscape. Roseanne Field reports. Cover image © Studio CAPN For the full report on this project, go to page 32


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