Living Villages creates brave new world

Timber frame will play an integral part in a prestigious development in Shropshire. TiC hears how the material forms part of an idyllic new project.

WORK IS underway on the final phase of a highly acclaimed “neighbourhood” development of energy-efficient homes in an historic south Shropshire market town.

Engineered timber frame homes, featuring oak boarding and wood burning stoves will form what housebuilder Living Villages hopes to be an environmentally and socially sustainable community in the heart of England.

Living Villages is building a total of 40 ecofriendly houses in the new neighbourhood, The Wintles. The company has already completed 20 homes, which constitute the first phases of the development in Bishops Castle and it is now constructing the final 20 homes in the project.

The company says it wants the development to encourage working from home, car sharing and the management of the surrounding open spaces by residents. It claims The Wintles will be the first of its type in the UK.

The Phase 3 homes will range in size from three to five bedrooms and each house will have underfloor heating, solar panels, heat recovery systems, high performance doubleglazing, an internal vacuum cleaning system, broadband facility and a private garden.

The homes are built in clusters around a shared space so that residents can easily get to know each other. Living Villages uses local materials wherever possible and incorporates architectural features that reflect the unique character of the area, including turrets on some homes.

The eco-houses face south towards the sun and, where possible, have trees around the edges of the site for protection and wildlife shelter. There are also allotments for people who enjoy growing their own produce.

Homes on The Wintles are built with a super-insulated, engineered timber frame. They are designed to make the most of heat from direct sunlight and use heavy materials to make the most of an internal thermal mass heat store.

As well as passive energy sources, the homes also use solar thermal panels for water heating and can also feature photovoltaic solar panels for electricity production. Inside, they are fitted with highly efficient condensing boilers to provide underfloor heating to ground floor rooms and bathrooms and their plumbing is ready for grey water recycling.

Living Villages also said it reduced the carbon footprint of the construction materials by sourcing natural, local and reclaimed building materials to reduce embodied energy use. The buildings also used non-toxic paints and varnishes to protect their environments.

All the houses have large windows and many have sunspaces and internal balconies. For cold weather, the homes are fitted with a flue for a wood-burning stove.

A clever heat recovery ventilation system takes the heat out of moist air from bathrooms and the kitchen and distributes it to the bedrooms and living rooms at a constant, comfortable temperature whilst the stale air is vented outside.

Each home is unique but typical features include an engineered oak boarding to the ground floor, high quality brushed chrome ironmongery and a choice of quality kitchens, bathrooms, floors and tiling. Kitchens include A-rated energy efficient appliances.

The flexible homes on The Wintles are ideal for people who want to work from home. Internal spaces are designed so that they can be used in a variety of ways to suit different requirements and the neighbourhood is wired for broadband and other technological advances.

“We are committed to creating an attractive lifestyle that is also environmentally friendly. Our neighbourhoods are designed to promote conviviality, neighbourliness and a feeling of belonging,” says Living Villages director Bob Tomlinson.

“We call it a sense of place, an identifiable neighbourhood that people enjoy and feel at home in. Unlike most developers, we designed neighbourhoods for people, not cars. The Wintles is a good example of a pedestrian priority zone, where the residents can enjoy a protected, shared space and children can play safely.

“People want to live in Living Villages not just because the houses are beautiful and built to an exceptionally high standard. I believe that we have succeeded in creating a unique combination of ultra-modern, energy-efficient building techniques with the feel of an established traditional village.”

The Wintles neighbourhood is scheduled for completion early 2009.