Cavendish House is a fresh take on the villa, with both a modern aesthetic and a passive solar design. Located in a suburban enclave of Cambridge, the energy efficient design replaces a 1930s built detached house, taking its form from the existing street of mainly large-scale three storey homes sitting back from the street frontage. The home’s layout is a direct response to its passive solar design, with solar gain provided through the north-south orientation of the house. There are high levels of glazing on the south façade, opening onto the garden, with solar shading being provided in a timber screen with external blinds. Behind the timber screens are sliding glass panel doors. Screens to the side prevent overlooking from the property. Openings to the north street frontage are limited to three windows, one of which is a big window from the living room and central stair. This façade uses semi-reflective fritted glass as a rainscreen cladding, partially reflecting the sky, and contrasting timber cladding. Small glass panels were chosen for the rainscreen cladding to provide a reflective yet opaque skin, while avoiding a corporate feel in this domestic context. The house is believed to be one of the first small homes in the UK to use cross-laminated timber construction and therefore proved fast to build and has low embodied energy. The design proved highly contentious at planning stage, but the council’s planning department now uses it as an example of how contemporary design can be inserted successfully into existing historic neighbourhoods. Since occupation, energy use has been monitored and found to meet stringent German PassivHaus standards for energy efficiency. In concept and completion, Cavendish House is a worthy winner. |
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