Sustainable Architecture Case Study
Flourish House, Islington
A period home in Islington finds its sustainability sweet spot
Having recently purchased a beautiful Georgian home in Islington, the growing family of Flourish House wanted to maintain the period features of their building while enhancing its energy efficiency and future-proofing its performance. While preserving its elegant design, the family also wanted to create more space and add contemporary features that would bring it up to date. Working closely with the client every step of the way, we retrofitted the building with a new energy-efficient thermal system and added a timber frame extension to expand the home and make it more sustainable, while enhancing the design aesthetics. We handled every part of the process, from design and planning to managing the build and specifying the interiors.
KEY STATS
F→B
Energy performance rating increase
6→3.2
Reduction in carbon emissions by tonne
£1000+
Annual heating and electrical bill savings
Home heating is responsible for 14% of the UK’s carbon emissions. The age of a property is the single most important factor in determining energy efficiency in a London home.
Flourish House presented a challenge: while it needed an upgrade to bring its thermal efficiency up to scratch, its sought-after historical aesthetic made insulating the exterior walls unthinkable. The house is also in a conservation area, and could not be altered externally without impacting its value.
Creating a system for the future within a historical context can be difficult. Finding space for large equipment such as an air source heat pump (ASHP) and solar panels, running services up and down through an existing structure, and connecting these to incoming services that are outdated and in need of change are all things that had to be addressed.
Homes with A or B rating sell for at least 14% more than their counterparts.
71% of homebuyers consider a home’s EPC rating an important part of their decision-making to buy.
59% of homebuyers are willing to pay more for a property where at least 75% of its energy comes from renewable sources.
Flourish House has now been fitted with an ASHP in its interior, creating a visual and technical solution for the client. An ASHP extracts heat from the air outside and uses it to warm the home. It's a gasless solution that for every kilowatt of electricity can create four kilowatts of heat to warm up radiators and hot water.
By stripping the interior walls back to bare brick, the space lost internally is minimised. Solar panels have been installed in a design-forward manner, having been fitted on top of the main roof so as not to be visible from the street and giving the home a source of renewable power.
A thermal upgrade is applied, improving the thermal and acoustic performance of the building. Insulation materials wrapped around the building are made up of renewable wood fibre and lime plaster instead of plastic-based solutions which affect the breathability of a building.
A timber frame extension , which is renewable and breathable has been used to create more space and a modern spin on a classic building. Each of these services worked together to not only improve the home’s energy efficiency rating but also enhance the design and liveability of the home.
“We hired Studio Manifest to do a full refurbishment and extension of our home in Islington and we cannot recommend them enough.
During the design stage they listened attentively to our needs and our budget and they designed both a practical and beautiful home for our growing family.
The planning application was a breeze and we sailed through the tender and building stage with relatively few complications. They were professional, patient, friendly, and knowledgeable. We are now living in our new home and couldn’t be happier.”
- The Residents
