Living the dream

With the help of Local Authority Building Control, architect Jerry Harrall, founder of the SEArch practice, continues to prove that earth sheltered buildings are a viable and sustainable alternative to traditionally constructed buildings.

His most recently completed project, the first earth sheltered housing scheme in the UK at Honingham, Norfolk, has now become a beacon for those in the practice of environmentally responsible design

The key challenge for the UK’s first earth sheltered social housing scheme was to design four bungalows that would effectively relegate the threat of fuel poverty to a distant memory, while demonstrating the values implicit in a low carbon lifestyle and anticipating the inevitable - the low carbon economy.

The Honingham Earth Sheltered social housing scheme has now established itself as an exemplary low carbon development, providing a commercially viable model promoting environmental best practice. As a demonstration project it confirms that you can live in zero heated, zero CO2 emission buildings without mechanical space heating with no loss of comfort. 
In the application of the low impact environmental development techniques employed at the Long Sutton Work Life Project in Lincolnshire, it has enabled the Honingham tenants to improve their quality of life in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the environment.

The Honingham scheme has also provided a commercially viable solution for the construction industry. It’s a demonstration project that confirms we can live and work in zero CO2 emission buildings with no loss of comfort. Collectively these buildings actively enhance and protect the natural environment, both locally and globally.

Achieving value for money is the prerequisite of all registered social landlords and this was no different for the client in Honingham, the  Peddars Way Housing Association. This becomes more apparent when attempting to incorporate innovative building solutions.

The Housing Corporation’s funding requirements were met when the construction tenders came in under budget  (direct comparisons were made to recently completed conventional bungalow developments within the area, completed by the Flagship Group). 

The practical application of earth sheltering in the social housing field has acted as a catalyst for further development, gaining momentum with the passage of time as the minimal running costs have become more readily available to the general public.
For example, under construction in the adjoining village of East Tuddenham is another earth sheltered dwelling inspired by the Honingham project. Meanwhile, Lord Leicester of the Holkham Estate has commissioned SEArch for two earth sheltered buildings within the estate.

Confident with the success of the Long Sutton Work/Life project and the Honingham Social Housing scheme, SEArch Architects have also been joined by Lincolnshire County Council, East Midlands Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund as share equity partners in the development of Europe’s largest earth sheltered development of its type, which commenced on site in April this year in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire.

This development comprises 10,000 sq ft of ecologically sound and energy efficient earth sheltered offices, ecopods and an ecocafé. These businesses will be operating in the field of environmentally responsible development and participating in the dissemination of information in the performance of this site for a wider general public through public open space, classroom, ecocafé, guided tours and publications.

Meanwhile, Bruce Tofield of the Community Carbon Reduction Programme, University of East Anglia, was so inspired by his visit and the tenants’ enthusiasm for their new residences, he presented his findings to the Greater Norwich Housing Forum in a lecture entitled: Sustainable Construction: The Low Cost Option or Living the Dream.

The Honingham Earth Sheltered Social Housing Scheme will shortly have its performance statistics published through the University of East Anglia for consumption by the construction professionals and general public at large. 

Honingham tenants, Garry and Keron Lawson, said: “We don’t have any heating on at all and the light comes through the full-length windows in winter. It stays at 72oC with no heating. In summer the sun doesn’t come through and you stay cool.  Now it’s warm outside but cool inside… it’s almost living the dream; we hadn’t heard of anything like this at all before... it’s really opened our eyes.”

At £4 per week, the running costs of Keron and Garry Lawson’s home is a living example of what can be achieved with environmentally responsible design and a competitive construction budget.

Honingham is a development that has streamlined the construction process by: -

The project also embodies many passive solar gain design techniques, including: The building is also striving for autonomy over its own resources by recharging the local aquifers by allowing precipitation to continue along its natural path; blending into the natural environment with both indigenous and Mediterranean planting schemes in response to a warming and dryer climate; and producing on a net basis, no carbon emissions during occupation.


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