Sudbourne Park

Concept Design: Sanei Hopkins Architects
Employers Agent: Gill Associates Ltd
Cost Consultants: Gill Associates Ltd
Structural Engineer: MLM Group Consulting Engineers
Client-side M&E Engineers: The Energy Practice
Energy Assessors: The Energy Practice
Landscape Design: The Landscape Partnership
Ecological Assessment: The Landscape Partnership

An energy-conscious development of 10 Houses at the Sudbourne Park Estate

The development is an ‘enabling’ development, the profits for which are set aside to fund the restoration of the walled garden and other landscape features within the estate. Development on such a sensitive site needed very careful consideration.

Architects for the concept of the development, Sanei Hopkins Architects (Project Architect – Amir Sanei) carried out an extensive series of studies culminating in a design which reflects the form of the nineteenth-century greenhouses that formerly occupied the walled garden.

Sustainability was a prime consideration in the specification for this project, taking into account the building fabric of the various house-types and the day to day operation of the environmental systems in buildings which were likely to be left unoccupied for long periods.

As Executive Architects our role was to address the scheme’s technical challenges whilst respecting Sanei Hopkins’ original design concept. Extensive thermal modelling was required to avoid overheating and as result of this study the buildings have a high thermal mass which smooths out peaks and troughs of solar gain and brises soleils are employed to prevent excessive heat build-up from a high-level summer sun whilst allowing heat to be captured from low-level winter sun. High-efficiency air-sourced heat pumps linked to underfloor heating to all habitable rooms and heat-recovery ventilation all contribute to an energy-efficient and comfortable environment.

The specification of each house includes a high proportion of sustainably-sourced and recyclable materials and it is hoped that this development will become an exemplar of sustainable design on sensitive sites.