London-based firm Proctor & Shaw has just unveiled a stunning country home that blends a traditional farmhouse aesthetic with sleek, modern touches. Set on four idyllic acres at the edge of a small village in North West England, the Zinc House is not only a stunning design but also boasts an impressively small carbon footprint.
The three-bedroom family home is a two-story structure comprised of a hand-laid brick base. On top of the base and to its side are two gabled volumes clad in standing seam zinc finishes.
Related: A Victorian cottage gets a stylish and sustainable makeover
The two gabled volumes add a modern touch to the home’s farmhouse-inspired aesthetic. Both have projecting box windows as well as glass-enclosed garden rooms that provide stunning views of the orchard and expansive farmland that stretches out for miles.
The prefab family home has two stories with the social areas on the bottom floor and the master bedroom suite on the top floor. At the family’s request, the spaces were designed to be highly flexible so that they could be reconfigured to meet the family’s future needs. Thanks to interconnecting living spaces and an open plan, the ground floor could be easily converted into one single living space.
In addition to its visually pleasing design, the home is also incredibly sustainable. The cross-laminated timber structure was prefabricated off-site, which reduced construction emissions substantially. The materials arrived to the site via truck and the entire structure was erected in just three days.
Thanks to its prefab origins as well as strategic passive and active sustainability features, the house is incredibly energy-efficient. For starters, quality insulation enables it to have an extremely tight envelope, reducing energy costs and providing a stable interior temperature year-round. The orientation of the building was also an important factor in making use of natural light and air circulation.
For energy generation, the residence has a large solar array on one of the gabled roofs, and a ground source heat pump was installed to provide heating and additional electricity that results in minimal net running costs for the home.
Via ArchDaily
Photography by David Millington Photography Ltd via Proctor & Shaw
