A sustainable design and build resulted in a high-performing, award-winning Passivhaus home for Paul and Belinda Wilson

WORDS JANE CRITTENDEN PHOTOS ALISTAIR NICHOLLS

FACT FILE

NAMES Paul & Belinda Wilson

OCCUPATIONS Retired

LOCATION Bedfordshire

TYPE OF PROJECT Self-build

STYLE Contemporary Passivhaus

PROJECT ROUTE Architect & main contractor

CONSTRUCTION METHOD Timber frame

LAND COST Already owned

HOUSE SIZE 230m2

PROJECT COST £527,866

PROJECT COST PER M2 £2,295

BUILDING WORK COMMENCED May 2016

BUILDING WORK TOOK Eight months

CURRENT VALUE £700,000

A refused planning application isn’t usually an outcome people are pleased about, but for Paul and Belinda Wilson the news triggered a chain of events that led them to building their ideal Passivhaus home.

“One of the guidelines in the council’s feedback was to design something special, and they agreed an energy-efficient house might be looked on favourably,” Paul says. “We didn’t know anything about Passivhaus until we started researching ideas in 2014. Then we heard eco architect Alan Budden speak on an online podcast and the concept really resonated with us.”

The Wilsons’ self-build story began nine years before this, however. They bought a detached 1940s house with nearly an acre of garden. The grounds were some 30m wide with a gated side entrance, sloping down away from the back of the house. The property was familiar to them, too – once owned by friends. “We always thought it would be a great place to live because of the beautiful views across the countryside,” says Paul. “In the back of my mind I thought there could be an opportunity to build in the garden one day, but we had no firm plans.”