Kent Messenger Focus Article May 2008

F0CUS reallife

Richard O Architect Hawkes'design fortheeco-house heisbuilding nearStaplehurst

A $anddesign any of us try to do our bit for the environment,but Richarc Hawkes is going that extra mile - and a half. The Staplehqrstarchitect is embarking on a property which, when finished, will blend into its surroundings,haveno need for central heating, and will havebeenalmost entirely built from local or recycledmaterials. It will evenhavea "living roof'with native plants sourcedfrom Mar{en Nature Reserve, underneathwhich will standa unique Timbrel vault built from tiles madefrom clay dug up less than four miles awav. The project is as environmentallyfriendly as possible,but it's not a ramantic ideal that he had long dreamtof.

Architect Richard Hawkes isnotsimply concerned about whathislatest project design willlooklike.Hisambitious house building comes with impressive environmentally-friendly credentials. Richard tellsreporter ANGELA C0LE about thebroader issues thatmotivated him In fact, Richard had no vision ofthe kind of househe might designwhen he and wife Sophie bought the plot in January2007. There had previously beena bungalow on the site, owned by two elderly sisters.After buying the plot, it was a slow processfor Richard to work out the designofthe building to come.A 4am "Eureka!" moment producedthe building's unique "arch" shape. "This is what architecturaldesign should be about," said Richard. "You get a site and respondto the needsof the site. If I want this building to belong ; on this site, it must effectively evolve from the needsof the site.It was a process that felt very natural.

The form just followed the function. Then it was just a matter of how to build it and what from." He adds:"If we'd boughtland on the otherside ofthe road, for instance,the shapeofthe building would havebeencompletely different. Every location has unique qualities, which require a unique solution." The desigl has eventaken into accounthow the building would be seenby passersby, but crucially, it neededto be sustainable.This meant designingit so that the south side, where there will be large windows, will get the maximum amountof sunlight on winter days,passively heatingup the air in the building. The arch overhangsto shadethe glazing in the summer when the sun'sheat is not required. A heat recovery ventilation systemwill allow warm air to be reused.A paraffin wax thermal tank will act as a heat battery storing solar energy for hot water and any top-up heat needed.Solar panelswill provide hot water, and rainwater will be collected for use inside and outside. The housewill alsobe insulatedusingrecycled newspaper."We are ventilating but not throwing that heat away,' said Richard. "By keeping that hot air you reduceyour heatingrequirement dramatically.We will effectively be building the houselike a warm ski jacket." The four bedroomhousewill havetiple glazing, which will be filled with Argon gas,which is more thermally resistantthan air, also to keepthe housewarm. Richard hasbeenworking on the designwith sustainablebuilder, Ecolibrium Solutions,based in Capel le Ferne,who will be building the house. Andrew Bassant,of Ecolibrium Solutions, suggestedusing the Timbrel vault technique, which will be so fundamentalto the building, using26,000handmadeclay tiles. Although it will be only the secondtime the processhasbeenusedin this country when it's built this sunmer. he is confident of success. "It is extremely strong and extremely think.

* I havecompleteconfidencein the engineers becausethey are so goodat theirjob. I don't know how to do theirjob, but they do. It hasn'tbeen done quite like this before but the engineershave built a smallmodelin their garage." Drawing on expertiseand materialsas close to homeaspossiblewaspart of being asholistically aspossible. sustainable But his ethicsweretestedat almostthe first hurdle when it took him weeksto find a five-bar gatefor the site madefrom ethically sourcedwood. Most peoplewould havegivenin andboughtone from the local DIY store,but Richard stuck to his principles. "The one thing we're not doing at the moment is generatingelectricity on site.You haveto take the principle right the way through to the nth degree.You don't uselighting frivolouslyif you're building a houselike this. Every bit of energy counts. about "I havealwaysbeenpassionate sustainability;it wasa corefocusof my studies. But I wasneverin a positionto implementthat - until now." "We avoid supermarketsout of principle because our local farm shopsarebetter and we believe in Building the houseis supportinglocal businesses. a kind of extensionof that really." He adds:"I want to makethe building as goodas it canbe. Not simply to endup with a wonderful looking building,but to makeit asefficientas possibleto showpeoplethat it canbe done." The housewhich wasdesignedspecificallyfor its plot, will alsoappearto "grow" out of the land itself, thanks also to earthbanking and extensive treeplantingaroundit. Its living roof will providea habitatfor native herbsandflowers.Usinglocally ferns,grasses, familiar plantswill enablethe building to blend into the landscape. "It meansthat the roof will mimic the coloursand - it would texturesof the surroundinglandscape look ridiculousif it wasbright greenneatlymown grasswhen all aroundit wasbrown and wintry." He adds:"I like the ideathat you passby without noticingthe house.It is the appropriatething in a rural setting." Inside,the housewill havefour bedrooms,but will alsohaveflexible spaces,to accommodate futurechangesin the couple'slifestyle. Expectingtheir first baby in the summer,Richard and Sophieplan to live therefor the restof their lives,and so haveevenconsideredhow they could usethe housewhenthey areelderly. Works to improve the land drainagebeganearly in January,with the main building work due to start in February.It is expectedthat the project althoughthe could be finishedby mid September, trickiestpart - building the vault- will rely in its early stageson the weather. "I am really excited.The reasonI don't feel daunted- maybeI should- is becauseI genuinely feel that we havegot the right people involved. 'Another thing I am passionateaboutis enabling peopleto addvalue.It is greatthat the Timbrel vault idea camefrom the builder. The building will be so muchbetterfor letting lots of very talentedpeople make their mark. "This is the mostambitiousbuilding I have designedto date." Having saidthat,it couldbejust the start,ashe 'hopes it will serveasan inspirationto others who want to createandlive in environmentally consciousbuildingstoo. And he couldbe the man to designthem.

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