A Butterfly Roof Tops an “Upside-Down” House Built for Aging in Place

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Project Details:

Location: Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom

Architect: Mole Architects / @molearchitects

Footprint: 1,313 square feet

Builder: Burmor Construction

Passive House Build System Contractor: Beattie Passive

Quantity Surveyor: Sherrif Tiplady Associates

Photographer: Matthew Smith Architectural Photography / @msap_photo

From the Architect: "The now-homeowner, Joan, approached us in July 2017 with a desire to self-build a passive house for her retirement. A key ambition for the project was to make the most of the flat fenland landscape, which means you can see for miles. To get those stunning views, the concept of an upside-down house with the living space upstairs was developed.

"The result is a first floor that comprises an open-plan kitchen, dining and lounge area, an en suite primary bedroom with countryside views looking east to catch the sunrise, and a west-facing balcony that’s reached through patio doors and supplies a wonderful vantage point to watch sunset. Downstairs is a garage, study, utility room, and guest bedroom.

"The house has been designed with passive house principles at its heart. Its position on the site means it gets ample sunlight all through the year. The building is a prefabricated passive house timber frame system and triple glazing, making for a well-insulated and highly sealed home. The overhanging butterfly roof provides solar shading to south facing high level windows in summer. Wherever possible natural and sustainable materials with low VOCs have been used inside and out. The client enjoys very low energy bills due to the high levels of insulation and the solar panels that power her home. The house uses 60Kwh/m2/per year.

"Joan is in good health now but she wanted to think ahead. So, a wheelchair lift was incorporated into her plans early on, as was ensuring the rest of the house is wheelchair-friendly. There were also little touches like power sockets placed at waist height for less bending when she’s older, and the guest room can be converted into carer’s accommodation, if needed.

"The timber cladding, partly inspired by fenland agricultural barns is composed of rough overlapping larch boards above and finer white stained wood below where one can touch the cladding."