This A1 rated, Passive House dwelling, located in Cork City, was completed in September 2016. An existing dwelling was demolished to make way for a new contemporary, energy efficient family home.
Initially, WMA were engaged with a view to renovating the existing house. The existing house had been extended a number of times over the years, was dark and the spaces didn’t flow well. It was decided after some exploration that rebuilding was the preferred option in terms of both design and cost. The brief for the new house was to design an energy efficient, bright and modern home.
The site itself posed an interesting challenge, not just from a design perspective, but also in terms of constructability. It is long and narrow and is oriented SW – NE along its length, with unusually poor solar access. It slopes slightly at the entrance gates and is relatively flat for the majority with a raised, planted area at the rear. There are residences to either side and to the rear of the site. The site has a number of mature trees both on and overhanging its boundaries.
The design was very much informed by the site’s orientation and solar access. Solar studies were conducted on the existing house and the impact of its form on the neighbouring properties was noted.
This analysis was used to inform the massing of the new design so that it impacted as little as possible on the neighours and so that the house could take full advantage of the available daylight and sunlight.
