We were delighted to work as architects and passive house designers with private clients in Somerset to realise their dreams for a new passive house. The house has recently received its Passivhaus Certification – many thanks to Etude!

We converted an agricultural barn with Prior Approval into a new five bedroom house. Make Group helped us deliver the project on site with support from structural engineers, Build Collective, M&E consultants, Greengauge and Ross Management Services.

The Barn was shortlisted for Future Leap’s Sustainable Building Award, 2022.

In Passivhaus and low-energy buildings we are interested about what happens at junctions between different materials. If an area of construction has significantly higher heat transfer than its surrounding materials then it can lead to cold spots where moisture can condensate. This can cause mould growth and damage to the fabric of the building, and it can also harm the health of building occupants.

We use thermal modelling software in our project workflow to help reduce thermal bridging. The output from the software is both visual (as in the infrared image opposite) and numerical, and can be submitted as part of the Building Regulations application and/or Passivhaus certification.