Slad Road - Two eco-homes on a hill

We have secured planning permission for two new eco-homes on a challenging site in Stroud.

The client came to us after having a previous proposal refused by Stroud planning authority on multiple grounds including insensitive appearance and unviable access/enabling works. The previous designer had designed a large road down the steeply sloping site that carved up the landscape and was not demonstrated to be feasible considering the slope and ground conditions. The houses would also have been too far away for fire truck hose access.

Josh from GreenTrace Architect, and in collaboration with Greenheart Sustainable Construction, produced a highly considerate design located higher up the slope to minimise earthworks and improve access arrangement for occupants and the fire service. The planning officer felt the design was a vast improvement and welcomed the sustainability ambitions for the project.

With buildability and energy efficiency in mind, the houses are designed to be simple and functional, yet elegant and sensitive to the character of the area as well as the amenity of neighbours. The houses also had to be designed to navigate the steep slope. This meant entering the house on the upper floor with the bedrooms at lower ground level. The living room is also at lower level with access to the garden. The open plan living arrangement on the upper floor aims to maximise south light and passive solar gains whilst providing shading with an overhang and inset balcony.

The plan is split into 3 structural bays with a generous void for the stairwell helping to bring light into the lower ground floor where the setting into the hill makes daylighting difficult.

The houses are designed to be timber-framed with some masonry retaining elements. The south facing aspect is great for energy generation via solar panels which would be able to provide enough power for the entire energy consumption of the house alongside significant battery storage. This is only achievable because the space heating demand would be so low, targeting Passivhaus standards.