Footprint

Wednesday saw the official opening of Ebbw Vale’s Welsh Future Homes site, supported by BRE Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government, Blaenau Gwent Council and United Welsh Housing Association. The site of an old steelworks is now home to three affordable homes and a visitors centre, all zero or near zero-carbon and opened by Jane Davidson AM, Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing.

The site includes Wales’ first CSH Level 6 house, reaching Passivhaus standard and also a new project using the pioneering timber construction method Ty Unnos. The real strength of the projects is that they boost the Welsh supply chain, use local materials and develop local skills. Thanks to Woodknowledge Wales, bere:architects, BRE and UK window designer Beyer, eight joiners in Wales are now trained to manufacture Passivhaus standard windows.

The Larch House (below) is the CSH Level 6 house, designed by bere:architects. Constructed using Welsh timber in a closed panel timber frame system, it was developed by BRE, Bere and Holbrook Timber Frame. Clad in Welsh Larch, the house has an array of PV-panels.

Larch House, Bere Architects

photos: Peter White, BRE

The Ty Unnos visitors centre (below) was designed by the Design Research Unit Wales (DRU-w) and is the second project in Ebbw Vale to use their innovative timber construction methods after the Environmental Resource Centre opened on the site earlier this year. Ty Unnos involves modular panels using timber post and beam construction. They are constructed using locally sourced Sitka spruce and the manufacturing process is adaptable, allowing it to be produced by small local enterprises.

The 450mm thick walls have an average U-value of 0.1W/m2K and air tightness of only 0.3 air changes per hour.

In both its form and its relationship to the climate, the design is inspired by the traditional Welsh long house. After the exhibition, the centre will be converted into two houses and hopes to achieve CSH Level 5 with the addition of a solar array, and bike and bin stores.

The following building components were sourced entirely locally and sustainably:

• Timber frame
• Insulation panels
• Roof
• Windows
• Solar Panels
• MVHR
• Joinery
• Internal and external finishes

These are made up of:

• Sitka spruce
• Sycamore
• Slate
• Oak
• Corus Urban standing seam roof
• Warmcel
• Rockwool

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