Eco Tech

16 • EcoTech 23

Perhaps the greatest difficulty faced bytwenty-first century architects is that ofchoice. Confronted by an ever-expand-ing range of competing technologicalpossibilities, we agonise over makingthe wrong choice, missing opportuni-ties or overlooking alternatives. Today,freedom of choice is accompanied apeculiar sense of paranoia as architec-tural possibility seems directly propor-tional to design anxiety. To design is todecide, but upon what can we base ourdecisions? A belief in future technologyor perhaps a trust in past know-how?

At first sight the New Forest house byPerring Architecture & Design (PAD)appears anything but backward look-ing. The building, differing radicallyfrom the tiny timber cottage itreplaces, is organised along a board-

Grounded technology: Perring Architecture & Design–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

H o u s i n g Martin Pearce visits a house that takes its cues from both the ecologies andopportunities of itssite in the New Forest.Photos: Nigel Rigden.

�� � � � � � ��� � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � �

EcoTech 23 • 17

Above The swimmingpond, which requiresno chemical cleanersand little maintenance,comprises a ‘regenera-tion area’ with selectedplant species, and aswimming area.Left Rear (north)entrance and main(west) entrance.

marked concrete wall, with two pristinesouth-facing timber boxes surveyingthe forested valley below. To the north,an earth berm is banked up against thewall making the house all but invisibleon approach. Some storage and accom-modation is below ground, driven bythe planning requirement of like-for-like above ground area replacement ofbuildings in this national park. There isa feeling of the brute materiality ofAndo but the building owes more tothe clarity of composition seen inUtzon’s wall houses.

This rigorous planning enables acarefully choreographed movementthrough the house. This is conceived asa sequences of framed views which alter-nate intimacy and enclosure with aweinstilled by views of barren heathland.

Much of the English picturesque land-scape tradition underlies PAD’s think-ing here, in a design strategy which atits core seeks to reveal what the ancientstermed the genius loci or spirit of place.For Vitruvius, who affords us uniqueinsight to the classical mind, a geniuslocus was in no way mystical but ratherof clear pragmatic import. For PAD, aswith Vitruvius, architecture begins withthe site. The practical significance ofthoroughly understanding the orienta-tion, topography, and ecology of a par-ticular place show how a building mightmetaphorically grow out of, or in thiscase into, its landscape.

The previous cottage had littleimpact in the landscape; however thedomestic detritus that often accompa-nies human habitation, and is subject to

�� � � � � � ��� � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � �

18 • EcoTech 23

little control, did not. Enclaves ofimported plant species and a suburbangardening mentality make for a starkcontrast with natural woodland as toomany precious landscapes are blightedby the curse of the rhododendron. Incontrast PAD has integrated the forestwith the design and landscape: a newha-ha keeps wild deer and ponies at bay,while a careful choice of native plantssurround a swimming pond that evokeschildhood memories of splashing inforest streams on hot summer days.These are design choices guided by,and at one with the place.

The extensive use of concrete in thebuilding might seem far from sympa-thetic to this environment. Much hasbeen debated about the use of concretein buildings which purport ecologicalcredentials. Can concrete ever be seenas a sustainable material? In this hack-neyed argument of material choice wecan become so absorbed as to miss thepoint. It is not simply the choice ofmaterial but rather how it is used. Thecross section through the buildingreveals the key use of a long concretewall as a driving concept for the design.South-facing rooms with sliding brisesoleil screens are set along this spine

Above The south-facing living areas, protected bylouvred screens, open onto the pond deck.Below Cross section; open-plan kitchen/living room.

�� � � � � � ��� � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � �

�� � � � � � ��� � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � �

EcoTech 23 • 21

wall of linear circulation above whichopening glazed rooflights make for astrategy enabling passive gains and nat-ural cross ventilation and cooling.Operated by the building user thesedevices not only afford thermal com-fort, but also the psychological feelingof being in control of one’s environ-ment. You feel cooler through the act ofopening the windows or drawing thescreens, even if the actual temperaturedoes not drop. In contrast the currentdogma of the Passivhaus approach,premised on passive solar design, super-insulation and airtightness often worksagainst the user’s intuition. In particularthe requirement for a sealed, airtightenvironment with allied heat recoverysystem and ventilation systems is oftendefeated by the user’s wish to open awindow in order to feel cooler.

PAD’s concerns are with the psycholo-gy of human comfort as much as morequantifiable needs for heat, light andsound. The requirement for the home

CreditsArchitect: PerringArchitecture & Design;design team: Wendy Perring,Darren Bray; structural engineer: Andrew WarringAssociates; services engineer:EDP; main contractor:HA&DB Kitchin; concreteconsultant: David Bennett;groundworks, fair-faced concrete: FarncombeConstruction; mechanicalinstallation: Ashwell; electri-cal installation: DesignerElectrical; concrete repairs:White & Reid; windows:Velfac; aluminum doors:Fineline; rooflights: GlazingVision; Ipe cladding: WoodTrend; flat roof: Bauder; join-ery: SB Joinery; pool: AngloAquarium; ironmongery:Harbrine; kitchen worktops:Mass Concrete; cedar shin-gles: John Brash; showertrays: Bette; meadow turf:Garden Leave; underfloorheating: Warmafloor; concrete plugs: Max Frank;tanking: Grace Construction;foul water treatment plant:Bio Bubble; heating, GSHP:Parker Heating; bronzesculpture: Simon Percival.

to provide a safe protected environmentis demonstrated most in the use of anearth berm which, coupled with anunusually thick green roof, allows for therooting of indigenous forest species,part of the lineage of earth-shelteredstructures that date back 5000 years toSkara Brae in the Orkneys. The earthaffords thermal mass and reduces thearea of exposed external wall, helpingmaintain a steady indoor temperatureby working as a heat sink and providingthermal lag against climatic fluctuations.However the corollary to this pragma-tism is that the house feels both very pri-vate and very safe, a refuge from the24/7 world immersed in technology ofcommunication.

So there seems much to learn fromPAD’s approach. Certainly that anytechnical solution must in some waybe considered provisional, notabsolute, and that we should not allowa faith in scientific certainty to out-weigh our most deep-rooted psycho-

logical need and instincts. For PAD the clarity of an architec-

tural idea is imperative, and a simpleconcept rigorously carried throughinto every part of the design is enor-mously powerful. However such anidea need not be overpowering when,as here, it can generate rich contrast-ing experiences that delight andintrigue. Above all the house rein-forces the timeless importance of aprofound understanding of site and anattitude that allows choices to be guid-ed by the unique and particular natureof a location. If anything, PAD’s NewForest house offers reassurance that,faced with seemingly infinite choice inour own time, architecture needs to begrounded in the timeless verities of thepast and the needs of the human psyche. Today more than ever, we needto look backwards and inwards in orderto go forwards.

Martin Pearce is an architect and principal lecturer atthe University of Portsmouth school of architecture.

Above A full-heightconcrete wall acts as a thermal store.

Below The thermal storage unit is linked to roof-mounted solar thermal panelsand a ground source heat pump. The store supplies domestic hot water and theunderfloor heating. Biomass heating provides as a secondary heat source to themain living spaces. The plant room also accommodates an MVHR (heat recov-ery) unit which extracts warm air from bathrooms and the kitchen, mixes it withfresh air and re-circulates it to the bedrooms.

�� � � � � � ��� � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � �