Green Building Press
Full Site Search      


Get a whole year of cutting-edge eco-building news for just £24.00 pa.

GBEzine

Built upon 30 years of experience, this fabulous new medium will feature inspiring and in-depth articles on eco-building projects from across the spectrum and from all over the UK, most of which are written by the very people that designed or built them. Perfect for architects, builders, developers, self builders and anyone interested in keeping right up-to-date with green building trends and friends.

For subscription options:
please go here
powered by Surfing Waves


Big, green and cheap - and designed in Wales
Printer FriendlyTell a Friend
The first four prototypes of a new, low cost but roomy eco-home designed in Wales have been snapped up by the Valleys to Coast Housing Association.
Big, green and cheap - and designed in Wales

The “Grand Designs”-style house for first time buyers costs just £41,000 to make. And now planning approval has been granted for the prototype of the innovative affordable eco-homes to be built in South Wales.

The made-in-Wales design - called Barnhaus - won a national competition organised by Grand Designs with the National Custom & Self Build Association (NaCSBA) in October last year. Architect Ed Green’s affordable home design could become a blueprint for a new generation of self-builders.

The competition brief was to design a house that could be self-built for less than £50,000.

Judges for the competition included Grand Design’s Kevin McCloud and Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson, who wanted to see homes that could be “built on a shoestring”.

Cardiff architect Ed Green came up with the award-winning design which gives buyers the “skeleton” of a house, and allows them to adapt the original framework to their taste.

The home, which is bigger than many modern new-build houses, will give first-time buyers the chance to build their own “Grand Designs”-style home at a fraction of the cost. Typically, first homes under £90,000 will have a much smaller space and a “substandard design”, the winning architect claimed.

Mr Green, 40, based his self-build Barnhaus home around the idea of a farmer’s hay barn. The Barnhaus steel frame – just like those used by farmers – is lined internally with lots of insulation, straw bales being most cost effective. Doors and windows are then added at either end.

Mr Green, an architect for 11 years with Pentan Partnership, said the result is a large 100 sq m home making it much bigger than most starter homes. The main advantage is “The simplicity of the Barnhaus, and the fact that it’s really, really buildable for a very modest budget,” he said.

The Cardiff-based practice have been developing the design with a wide range of partners including the Design Commission for Wales and the Energy Savings Trust, and have been discussing the delivery of social housing with Welsh Government.

“The prototype, funded by Valleys to Coast Housing Association, will now be built in north Cornelly, near Bridgend, using local suppliers and labour, with the potential for tenant participation in the build.”

Company director Andrew Hole said it was exciting to see the concept being brought to life, with the potential for thousands more homes that are “genuinely affordable”. "This is a really exciting project for us because we are creating homes which are affordable. These prototypes are being created for the Valleys to Coast Housing Association but in the future buyers who otherwise would struggle to get onto the property ladder will be able to create their homes at an achievable cost.”


Credits:: Rachael Misstear - Wales Online

This article has no comments yet.  Add feedback ...


   
Site Map    |   Home    |   View Cart    |   Pressroom   |   Business   |   Links   
   

© Green Building Press