HETREED ROSS ARCHITECTS

Reconstructed Eco-house & Straw Bale Studio

19th C Paulton Foundry has bats badgers otters grass snakes and slow worms. Planning was challenging but we obtained permission for a large sustainable family home studio workshop garage and independent holiday accommodation. The house was rebuilt from Foundry cottages to Passivhaus principles but keeps a Victorian north façade; the south wall was rebuilt with triple glazing shaded by vines. Decks on 3 sides of this upside-down house enhance views garden connections and link the studio. Stone ground and first floors are underfloor heated via a thermal store from solar and wood fuel. Timber floors - site-felled sycamore and ash - have skirting heating - seldom needed. Mains water is supplemented by a rain/spring-fed cistern. The East Foundry was converted into an Art Studio. Its steel portal frame carries larch cladding over straw-bale walls lime-rendered internally. The 12kWp PVs to the south pitch provide power for zero carbon operation of the site.