homes riba award winner

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Homes RIBA award winner

Black timber cladding, Corten steel and a robust flint wall create a striking entrance

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ROCKSOLID

P eople talk about building their dream home. And this is ours, in a way,’ explains Heinz Richardson, when asked about House 19, his and wife Jenny’s new-build home in the Chiltern Hills. ‘But one

of the most important aspects of the building is that I didn’t design it just for us – two people heading towards retirement. It’s flexible, with separate accommodation that could be used for a nanny, or a carer, and is wheelchair accessible. It can also easily accommodate 12 people. So the house could be different things to different people with a variety of family structures. This was an important part of the brief. I designed the house for the site and for future generations.’

For the time being, however, House 19 is very much the Richardsons’ new family home, which Heinz, a director of London-based architects Jestico + Whiles, designed according to passive house principles. Yet its genesis – despite its second-to-none sustainability agenda and site-sympathetic design – was not without the odd blip, specifically at the planning stage of the development, when the original application for permission was rejected.

‘It’s a long story,’ says Heinz. ‘We made a planning application and it was refused by the local committee – it seemed that they just didn’t like the house. So I had to go to appeal, which put us back a bit. But the appeal inspector who looked at the dispute ruled against the local authority and the plans were passed in 2013.’

Following demolition of the existing Seventies bungalow on the site, work began on the two-storey, three-bedroom house and garden studio in mid-2014. What finally emerged 15 months later is a home that not only addresses its specific plot in terms of form, but also the wider history of the Amersham area in its materials.

In order to minimise the impact on the adjoining property to the south, the southern elevation has been reduced to

On the edge of the Chiltern Hills, this RIBA award-winning carbon neutral home fuses traditional forms and robust

materials in an elegant, modern and sustainable way

Names Heinz and Jenny RichardsonAges 62 and 55Location Amersham, BucksProperty New-build passive house Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 3Project started June 2014Project finished November 2015 Size of house 246sqmPlot cost £500,000Build cost £750,000

AT A GLANCE


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We do a lot of entertaining with family and friends, so it’s

important to have one big space

The double-height space and glazing make this open-plan zone feel light and airy

Passive stackThe glazed dormer has a series of vents that can be controlled electronically, so when it’s hot in summer these can be opened at night-time to

release warm air from the house. The windows are from Velfac (01223 897 101; velfac.co.uk).

Grand idea



a single level with the two-storey elevation oriented to the north-east. This arrangement not only allows uninterrupted views across the nearby Chiltern Hills from all the upper rooms and circulation spaces, it also helps to regulate the amount of sunlight hitting the ground floor living areas.

‘It’s designed around passive solar principles,’ explains Heinz. ‘The large expanse of south-facing glazing (looking out to the garden area) allows the winter sun to come in and warm the space. However, a cantilevered roof overhang effectively cuts out the glare of the higher summer sun.’

In addition to this strategically placed glass, House 19’s facade is clad in black-stained timber with a dark zinc roof. At the front of the property, at ground level a wall of flint with Corten steel detailing creates a textural, tactile appearance.

‘The choice of materials comes from the context,’ explains Heinz. ‘The house is built in the Chilterns where flint is a naturally occurring material. If you walk through the fields you’ll see it lying on the surface. Unfortunately they don’t quarry in the area any more so we sourced the stone from Sussex. It’s as close as we could get. The flint is snapped to reveal the lovely glassy inner surface and knapped – shaped into right angles – at the corners of the walls.’

A thin, decorative band of stone chips runs horizontally through the entrance wall, which also features a Corten steel canopy. ‘The use of Corten references the iron deposits that are often on the surface of flint as well as providing an accent on the architecture,’ says Heinz. Another unique feature of the exterior of House 19 is the external clock. ‘I play cricket in the area and there is no clock in the village for reference. So I put one on the chimney,’ he adds.

The chimney wall, with contemporary double-sided fireplace, is one of the main features of the open-plan living area, which is pared down simplicity itself, set against a backdrop of white walls and light porcelain-tiled floors. ‘We do a lot of entertaining with family and friends, so that’s why it’s important to have one big space,’ says Heinz.

‘What’s so beautiful about the house internally is that

Sliding doors open on to the landscaped courtyard garden

A towering chimney breast rises through the open-plan space; the kitchen worktop

is hard-wearing Dekton


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during the changing seasons and different times of the day you get this wonderful fluid light quality because it faces south and east-west. The space architecturally responds to the light coming into the house, so we don’t need coloured walls and fabrics to bring it to life. It’s a very calm and relaxing space to be in.’

The overall serenity of the experience of House 19 is heightened by its lack of gadgets or complicated technology. This really is a case of a passive house, in which less is more in terms of its systems. In addition to the building’s careful solar-optimised orientation, there are photovoltaic panels for electricity and the whole house is heated through a ground source heat pump that provides underfloor heating and hot water. Rainwater is also harvested for clothes washing, flushing WCs and garden watering.

Built using airtight, thermally heavyweight blockwork construction with triple glazing, House 19 features a passive stack system whereby the dramatic double-height space at the heart of the plan, coupled with opening vents in the long upper-level dormer window, provides a natural cooling system in summer months.

Another aspect of the building’s sustainable credentials is the earth tube ventilation system. This is the first time that Heinz, a UK specialist in sustainable design, has incorporated earth tubes into one of his projects. ‘The advantage of this set-up is that it’s energy efficient, because you’re using the temperature of the earth, which is always at 12 degrees at a depth of around two metres, to pre-heat the air. This means that you use less energy in the heat exchanger. It’s working extremely well; it’s a fantastic system. All of my career I have been designing sustainable buildings. And that’s what this house is all about.’

‘In order to achieve low U-values (where there’s hardly any heat loss) you have to make the house very airtight,’ explains Heinz. ‘Once you make it airtight it’s then a case of working out how to bring fresh air into the living spaces. There are a number of ways of doing this and I chose earth tube ventilation.’

‘There’s an inlet pipe in the garden that goes into the earth around two metres down vertically and horizontally for a distance of 40 metres. It then goes up into the loft space of the house. The air that comes in is distributed around the building and then passed through a heat exchanger in the loft.’

‘The earth is always at 12 degrees at a depth of around two metres, which means that you get fresh air coming into the house pre-heated, or pre-cooled, naturally, depending on the season.’

‘Although it is a mechanical system in that it pushes the air through the rooms, it’s energy efficient because you’re using the temperature of the earth to pre-heat or cool the air and as a result you use less energy in the heat exchanger.’

Spotlight on... Earth tube ventilation system

FIRST FLOOR

Heinz added a clock to the bright white chimney stack

Project plan

GROUND FLOOR

BATHROOM

BEDROOM

GARDEN ROOM

EN SUITE

STUDY

LIVING ROOM

KITCHEN/DINING ROOM

EN SUITE

EN SUITEBEDROOM

BEDROOM


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PROJECT TEAM Architect Heinz Richardson and Alex Luria, Jestico + Whiles (020 7380 0382; jesticowhiles.com) Contractor SK Contracts Management (skcontracts.com) Sustainability consultant XCO2 Energy (020 7700 1000; xco2.com) Structural engineer Ellis + Moore (020 7281 4821; ellisandmoore.co.uk) Mechanical installation Be Green Systems (01895 204 884; begreensystems.co.uk) External landscaping Echinops Garden Design (020 8241 6737; echinopsgardendesign.co.uk) STRUCTURE Flintwork The Flintman Company (01273 556 827; flintman.co.uk) Corten steel Hollywood Design (020 7249 1234; hollywood-design.com) Timber cladding Exterior Solutions (exteriorsolutionsltd.co.uk) Zinc roof installation All Metal Roofing (020 8498 0789; allmetalroofing.co.uk) Zinc roof VMZinc (01992 822 288; vmzinc.co.uk) FIXTURES & FITTINGS Front door Urban Front (01494 778 787; urbanfront.co.uk) Bathroom fittings Bathe (01494 722 330; bathebathrooms.com) Lights Mr Light (020 7736 5855; mrlight.co.uk) Wooden floor Turgon (020 8343 3463; turgon.co.uk) Floor tiles Porcelain Tiles (020 8731 6787; porcelain-tiles.co.uk) Staircase TMK Stairways (020 8599 2838; tmk-stairways.co.uk) Kitchen Intoto (01494 722 799; intoto.co.uk) Windows Velfac (01536 313 552; velfac.co.uk) Fireplace Metalfire (+32 9261 5190; metalfire.eu)

Suppliers

A dark wall panel adds warmth to the

sleek and minimal en suite bathroom

Large windows and angled walls cast interesting shadows


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Weathered doorway

Heinz and Jenny chose Corten steel to frame their front door – it’s a nod to the iron deposits found on Chiltern flint. This material, supplied by Hollywood Design, forms a rust-like, protective

surface that doesn’t affect the structure. (020 7249 1234; hollywood-design.com).

1 Dark timber Vacuum coated sawnface Scotlarch cladding, £32.48 per sqm, Russwood (01540 673 648; russwood.co.uk)2 Sunny hue Delhi bazaar 6 matt emulsion, £24.49 for 2.5L, Dulux (0333 222 7171; dulux.co.uk)3 Smooth surface B-Concrete large-format floor tiles in porcelain, from £38 per sqm, Concept Tiles (01604 419 894; concepttiles.co.uk)4 Statement walls Burnished aged brass sheet, £180 per sqm, Metal Sheets (0151 526 4777; metalsheets.co.uk)

STYLE Use neutral tones to copy Heinz and Jenny’s minimalist interiorfinder

1 Waterfall effect Cascade bath spout, £835, Villeroy & Boch (villeroy-boch.co.uk)2 Scandi grey Mags three-seater sofa in Kvadrat Hallingdal fabric, £1,736, Hay at Nest (0114 243 3000; nest.co.uk)3 Clustered lighting Beat Fat small pendant in brass in black, £295, Tom Dixon (020 7400 0500; tomdixon.net)4 Flash of colour Papua platter in ceramic in yellow, £35, Da Terra at Unique & Unity (0845 605 9699; uniqueandunity.co.uk)5 Fine dining Octa extending table in solid American walnut and steel, £2,020, Bonaldo at Go Modern (020 7731 9540; gomodern.co.uk)

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A versatile design for future generations makes this house a definite winner

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homes riba award winner

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