Passivhaus Development, Shropshire

Much Wenlock

REHAU’s AGILA doors have been installed in 12 affordable homes in Shropshire to provide a warm welcome to Housing Association tenants moving into the flagship Passivhaus development in Much Wenlock. 

The Callaughtons Ash scheme has been built on behalf of South Shropshire Housing Association for tenants with a local connection to the town. The development comprises 12 one, two and three-bed Passivhaus homes, with 10 allocated for affordable rent and two for shared ownership.

The highly sustainable scheme was designed by Architype, an architecture firm based in Hereford with offices in London and Edinburgh, which has been working at the forefront of sustainability for many years. The company works on projects across the country and is a specialist in residential and commercial Passivhaus projects.

South Shropshire Housing Association was looking to deliver a new housing scheme which would provide good quality, sustainable homes for local people and help eradicate fuel poverty. To do this, they wanted to go beyond fitting high efficiency products in a standard home; they wanted homes which would work in harmony with their surroundings, so they would need less mechanical heating, cooling and lighting and therefore be more cost effective to run for their low-income tenants.

The design process started in 2015, in close consultation with local residents about the location of the scheme and the design of the Housing Association homes. Architype were keen to use a natural palette of materials for the timber framed houses, so the development would blend effortlessly with its surroundings, and to use locally sourced, sustainable products where possible.

Finding doors for the project proved to be quite a challenge as to achieve the Passivhaus standard, a triple glazed panel was required for maximum energy efficiency, but more importantly they also needed to meet the rigorous threshold criteria.

Under the Passivhaus standard guidelines, thresholds need to offer level access for accessibility yet provide a heat-proof seal to ensure warm and cold air is not able to flow under the door. Architype had looked at one supplier but due to the risk of condensation with the door’s design, they had to go back to the drawing board. Contractor on the Much Wenlock project, SJ Roberts Construction Ltd, had worked with REHAU before and suggested them to Architype as a possible alternative supplier.

After speaking with us about the AGILA doors and they were really pleased with the offer. The doors would meet the Passivhaus specification with ease, plus they were more attractive than the original door they had been considering. They chose a grey finish, which really lifts the quality of the finished home and also ties in with the materials palette we used on the rest of the design. They are so pleased with the doors, that they will definitely consider them again for other projects.

In total, 24 AGILA Passivhaus doors were manufactured for the Much Wenlock project by REHAU authorised partner GRM. Based on the GENEO® system, the doors can achieve a possible Ud value of 0.7 W/m2K, ensuring they meet the exceptionally high efficiency standards demanded by the Passivhaus Trust. Created in partnership with suppliers Roedenburg, the AGILA Passivhaus doors come in a range of contemporary and stylish designs and can be customised with GRP overlay skins in a range of colours and finishes using either foils or Acryl II colour coating.

The doors were fitted at the scheme by local contractors SJ Roberts Construction Ltd. It was the company’s first Passivhaus project, and thanks to the collaboration with GRM Windows it all ran very smoothly.