Mid Terrace Dream is on the AJ Retrofit awards shortlist

We can finally tell you that our recent sustainable renovation project, Mid Terrace Dream, is on the AJ Retrofit Award shortlist. In itself, this is an accolade worth celebrating – because who doesn’t love to have their projects recognised – but this award is also close to our heart.

Why retrofit?

With possibly the oldest and leakiest housing stocks in western Europe, there are around 29 million homes in the UK that will need retrofitting before 2050. Retrofitting a home means making improvements to your home so it becomes more energy efficient with lower emissions. Typically, it involves improving the insulation of walls, floors and lofts. and, upgrading windows and doors.  It may also include renewing services such as heating, hot water and lighting, or adding means of generating electricity.

As a small practice, we can’t solve the problem on our own. But working with like-minded clients, we can show it can be done effectively and stylishly and have a long-term impact on the energy requirements of the house and the health of those who live there.

Mid Terrace Dream

Mid Terrace Dream was a very typical North London Victorian terrace. When our clients bought it, it was run down, leaky and cramped. They wanted a home that would have low energy requirements, be comfortable, quiet, and suit their future family.  We have extended the kitchen, and converted the loft to increase the size of the house, and replanned the space to better suit our client.

Sustainable design and construction was important to client and architect. To minimise both the waste generated, and the new material required in the construction, we have reused demolition material – such as the bricks from the back wall, and the timber studs from the interior walls – within the renovated home. We have thoroughly insulated both the new and existing fabric and installed an air source heat pump and MVHR to ensure the house is warm, quiet and easy to heat and cool.  Where possible, we have used natural materials, which have a lower carbon footprint, but also contribute to the character of the house. The design is inspired by the clients Mediterranean and Nordic backgrounds, to make a home that is uniquely theirs.

Our aim was for a high performance home. When we crunched the carbon numbers, looking at both the embodied carbon and the operational carbon, we were delighted to have our intentions confirmed that the house is well within RIBA Climate Challenge targets, not too far from Passivhaus Standards and performing positively beyond our projections.

Importantly, it’s also a lovely home for our clients, and their new family.

The AJ Retrofit Awards recognise the best retrofit and creative reuse projects across all scales and sectors. We are incredibly proud to be shortlisted in the private/individual renovations ( up to £1m) category, alongside five other exemplary schemes. Siri and Joe are looking forward to presenting it live to the jury this September at the AJ Retrofit conference.