Case Study

House: The Nook, Lovers Walk

Client: Two Piers Housing Co-op

Project type: Retrofit

Property: Large detached Victorian Villa

Size: 177 sqm

Location: Brighton

Overview: Take a beautiful Victorian gas-guzzling house and reduce its carbon emissions by 80% was the aim of this project!  This large detached Victorian house is located in the Preston Village Article 4 conservation area of Brighton. Prior to refurbishment, energy performance was poor for this type of house (band ‘F’) and it was costly to run. A package of measures was designed by BakerBrown Studio and project management and building work was undertaken by Earthwise.  The retrofit was part of Innovate UK’s ‘Retrofit for the Future’ competition.  The Nook is one of the case studies in the LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide.

Measures: the extensive energy efficiency measures included insulating the walls internally at the front and externally on the sides and rear.  The ground floor was insulated upto the depth of the first stair and roof insulation was increased.  The windows were replaced with double glazing at the front and triple glazing on the sides and rear.  The boiler was replaced with a highly efficient model and solar thermal panels.  A Mechanical Ventilation with Heat recovery (MVHR) unit was installed for ventilation.  Electrical efficiency was increased by upgrading the lighting and appliances.  The improvements increased the energy performance to band ‘B’.  Previously energy bills were over £1,500 a year. With all the measures it is anticipated that bills will drop to less than £750 and CO2 emissions will have been reduced by 80%.

Press and awards: the house is featured in the RIBA book ‘Residential Retrofit: 20 Case Studies’ by Marion Baeli, Innovate UK’s ‘Making Retrofit Work’ book, the Low Energy Buildings Database and was presented at the Passivhaus Trust’s ‘Residential Retrofit Seminar’. The project was short-listed in the AJ Retrofit Awards in 2012.