01964 544480 / info@samuelkendall.co.uk

Farriers Cottage

Elstronwick, East Riding of Yorkshire

This 1980's rural house was in drastic need of extension and alteration to meet the living standards of a contemporary farriers family. Passive solar strategies of maximising solar gain and thermal mass exposure as well as ensuring high quality natural ventilation and an efficiently structured internal plan were critical to the design of this family home.

Sustainability Strategy

A sustainable architectural approach often begins with the decision to retain and restore an existing building, rather than wastefully demolishing and wiping the site clean of any distinct character it may have. At Farriers Cottage, we were working with a 1980’s inefficient & low in natural light & air quality, and to achieve a delightful passively heated and ventilated home significant additions and alterations were needed, but through care material retention of brickwork, floors and roof structure the sustainability impact of the project could be significantly mitigated. 

The plan of the home was analysed, extended and made more coherent lowering inefficient circulation whilst maximising south, west and eastern aspect roof pitches to optimise the home’s solar gain. Passive ventilation strategies of stack ventilation of buoyant warm air in new double height spaces and enabling cross ventilation throughout the home mitigated the problems of summer overheating whilst distributing heat passively throughout the home. A renewable biomass heating system was utilised in this transformed cottage, lowering the environmental impact of heating the intensively insulated family home.

♢  Substantial Extension to Existing 80’s Home

♢  Farmland Village Context

♢  Sustainable Retention and Reuse of Materials