was used previously, says Bob. Upstairs at the front, the wall separating the small and medium-sized bedrooms upstairs was demolished to create a larger, master bedroom with ample space for clothing storage and a luxurious super king bed. A crucial aspect of this phase involved planning the ductwork for a ventilation system to be installed at a later stage. As Bob was targeting the demanding EnerPHit standard, an R mechanical entilation with heat recovery) system was always part of the plan. Bob says a good ventilation system is vital to ensure air uality in energy-efficient homes. The challenging part of this stage, he admits, was probably us, as clients. otably, they altered oorplans the day after the builders commenced work, relocating the kitchen to the centre of the house. This decision saw the contractors having to dig up a portion of the concrete slab to accommodate a new drainage run. ortunately they were working with great builders says Bob, with some relief


PHASE TWO: ENVELOPE By , they had entered phase two of the renovation, with the family already having impressively coped with living in a home being retrofitted for a couple of years. During this stage, they made significant changes to both the front and rear facades by demolishing and reconstructing them using a more insulated wall construction.


Bob explains that their home, like many built during the 1960s, was built using ‘cross wall’ construction. This meant that the party walls bore most of the structural load, and the joists ran from side to side, leaving the front and rear eleations as simple infill. During the aster break in , Bobs wife took the children to rance for a couple of


58 www.sbhonline.co.uk


weeks. While they were away, the builders managed to knock down the front and rear elevations, rebuild with extra insulation and then fit the triple glazed windows by the second week. By the time the family returned, the house was back together, and fully watertight. t this stage, the R system had not yet been installed, prompting the family to rely on opening and closing windows. However, as winter set in and the windows remained closed more often, Bob obsered an unsurprising decline in air quality. He adds: “If you’re building envelope is done to a high standard and you’ve not commissioned the ventilation system yet, it can be a big problem.


PHASE THREE: A WAITING GAME The final phase of the proect has dragged on for a couple of years, admits Bob, with “quite a bit of work still yet to be finished. This phase has seen the final maor fabric upgrade howeer, where the outdated PCu doors at the rear were replaced with a larger set of sliding triple glazed doors, providing a view of the newly decked back garden.


While the upstairs finishes are still awaiting completion, considerable progress has been made downstairs. The area has been adorned with customised built in timber furniture that utilises the small apertures within the home, effectively maximising the available space. The finishes are now mostly being undertaken by Bob, who has turned it into a weekend actiity. Conseuently, the proect has been somewhat prolonged, but his commitment and efforts are driving it forward steadily.


LAYOUT & STYLE


The home as it stands today displays various timber details as well as white finishes as part


jul/aug 2023


ENERPHIT AIM


I think that was prob- ably always an aim. You know, if it was possible, we try and do that. Partly because so I was an early founding member of the Passivhaus Trust in the UK. I did my passive house ualification in about 2013 or 2014, something like that. Okay. ust hae been before then. It must have been 2012. So, am I what my wife has a similar interest in Passivhaus she’s built and then a passive house retrofit before


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