Bishopstown House

Client – Private Client

Wain Morehead Architects Ltd. were approached in 2012 by the owners of a 1980s semi-detached dwelling, they had recently purchased, to renovate and to extend their new home prior to moving in. The existing house not being energy optimized would have used 305kWh/m²/yr* to heat the home.

As well as providing an extension to the house which would not only meet, but exceed the requirements for energy performance as set out by the Part L Building Regulations, WMA recommended that the fabric of the existing dwelling could be thermally improved.

During preliminary investigations the external wall construction was confirmed to be cavity walls with no insulation, the earliest example of cavity wall construction known to the practice. Condensation and ventilation were clearly an issue and the nature of the external wall construction lent itself to cost effective improvement. It was proposed that these walls be dry-lined internally as well as have the cavity filled with insulation to ensure that the existing walls could meet the performance of the new.

In addition to improving the walls, roof insulation was upgraded, all windows where replaced with high spec units, the whole existing fabric was made more airtight. In order to further reduce running costs the hot water and heating systems were upgraded to include a solar hot water system. A new condensing boiler with 92% efficiency was installed to provide back up to the new solar hot water system and the main space heating requirements. a demand controlled ventilation system with 95% efficiency was installed, and all lighting was replaced with energy efficient alternatives.
With these improvements the house not only rejuvenated this family home to meet contemporary living requirements, the comfort improvements are immeasurable and running costs substantially reduced to 63kWh/m²/yr*.

* Preliminary figures based on calculated data using PHPP V7.2.01