Grays is located some twenty miles east of London on the north bank of the River Thames.  We were appointed by a private client to design a group of two family houses that would “harness features inherent within the site”.  Our client was particularly interested in solutions that enhanced the environmental performance of the buildings and made optimum use of natural light throughout the year.   Sun orientation thus became a focus for the design of this project. We placed the main living areas due south to take advantage of both solar heat and most favourable light.  In the summer, unwanted heat gain is controlled through passive ventilation.  And in the winter, our design makes use of the mass wall to store heat. PV solar panels have been placed in to harness the sun and, at the same time, to provide a brise soleil controlling heat gain in summer. To this end, we also installed heat tubes.  The measures adopted at Lodge Lane Eco-Houses have improved its environmental performance by 50 % above current recommendations as set by the latest energy efficiency related building regulations.

Client: Private
Engineer: Gurney Consulting Engineers