Project Overview:
Waverley Borough Council appointed Beattie Passive to design and build two new Haus4Two+ modular volumetric homes for the homeless using offsite technology systems. The homes were built in less than six weeks using the patented Beattie Passive build system to the Passivhaus standard, before being delivered by road and craned into position on the site of a former garage. Both homes are net zero in terms of environmental impact.
Constructed to Waverley Borough Council standards, each Haus4Two+ volumetric modular home boasts 39m2 of space with a large living area, a sizeable double bedroom, a fitted kitchen, in-built storage cupboards and French doors. Outside, there is a garden area, bicycle storage and an electric car charging port. Waverley Borough Council is very pleased to provide the homeless with quality accommodation that provides a solid foundation for a better future. Evidence strongly suggests that poor housing and fuel poverty can have a direct and detrimental effect on health.
According to a study published by The British Medical Journal earlier this year, there is a clear link between fuel poverty and ill health. For older people, living in cold temperatures increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Respiratory diseases, including flu, are more common, as are falls, injuries, and hypothermia. Children growing up in cold, damp, and mouldy homes with inadequate ventilation have higher than average rates of respiratory infections and asthma, chronic ill health, and disability.
They are also more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and slower physical growth and cognitive development. Passivhaus is a panacea for all these problems and more. Designed and modelled in the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) and constructed around a sustainable timber frame, these volumetric homes maximise airtightness and minimise thermal bridging to increase energy efficiency and eliminate carbon emissions.
This approach raises building and living standards, banishes damp and mould, provides healthy ventilation and guarantees thermal comfort throughout the year, with no draughts in the winter or uncomfortable levels of heat and humidity in the summer. What’s more, Waverley Borough Council and its tenants benefit financially, because the cost of heating and cooling each home is reduced by up to 100%! This landmark project, delivered in partnership with Homes England, sets a new benchmark for housebuilding in the borough of Waverley.
The scheme ticks all the boxes for a contemporary social housing development and then goes further still to deliver Passivhaus healthy living standards, while at the same time slashing fuel bills and cutting carbon emissions to net zero. As the number of people living in fuel poverty grows and climate concerns intensify, these considerations have become more important than ever before.
