New Build Hempcrete Home
Windfall Cottage, West Bay
Located on the Jurassic coast and near to West Bay (Bridport) this residential project gained planning approval in the spring of 2022.
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​The client came to us wanting to build a small bespoke sustainable building in the grounds of a listed cottage. The design aims to make use of the views to the north and east, while being hidden and tucked into the bank to the south.
The house needed to have low running costs and be a warm and cosy but also uplifting space in which to live.
To cope with the topography of the site the house is laid out across three distinct hipped-roof pavilions set at different levels, connected with links.
Materials are natural and local, to preserve the setting of the listed building while the green roofs offering ecological benefits and enhancing the habitat for wildlife.
​​We took an environmentally conscientious approach to the design of this house from the outset with a fabric first, low energy mindset.
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​The use of Hempcrete blocks and cast hempcrete to form the walls ensure this house has thermal mass and very good levels of insulation as well as using a carbon negative material. The rest of the house follows the same principles where possible using recycled, natural and breathable materials wherever possible.
The form of the building with the three hipped-roof pavilions brings several sustainable benefits. The opening central rooflights to each of the pavilions floods the spaces with daylight internally, reducing reliance on arificial lighting and means the building benefits from solar gain.
A natural stack ventilation effect is also achieved reducing the electrical demand of the home.
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Progress on site continues through the winter months now protected by a full scaffolding shroud.
