The Houl / Simon Winstanley Architects

© Andrew Lee

The Houl, [a 2011 RIBA Award Recipient], is a contemporary single storey ‘long house’ which is recessive in the landscape, sustainable in its construction and achieves a ‘zero carbon’ rating by using very high levels of insulation, whole house heat recovery ventilation, air source heat pump and a wind turbine.

Architect: Simon Winstanley Architects
Location: Dalry, Castle Douglas. DG7 3UB,
Structural Engineer: Asher Associates
Main Contractor: 3b Construction Ltd.
Landscape Architect: Paterson Landscape
Project Area: 182 sqm
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: , Andrew Lee

© Andrew Lee

The entrance to the house is sited on the north east side of the house under the cover of the roof to provide shelter from the prevailing wind. The principal rooms are situated along the contour of the site to enjoy the spectacular views across the valley to the west. The ancillary service spaces are generally to the rear.

sustainability section

The slope of the roof of the main living accommodation follows the slope of the hillside with the roof of the rear accommodation meeting the main roof at a shallower angle to allow morning sunlight to penetrate the centre of the house through clerestory windows. The house is constructed in steel and timber frame with walls clad in cedar weatherboarding and the roof finished with pre-weathered grey standing seam zinc. Windows are triple glazed with a thermally broken timber frame.
Text provided by Simon Winstanley Architects.

© Simon Winstanley Architects
© Andrew Lee
© Andrew Lee
© Andrew Lee
© Andrew Lee
elevations
* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
Cite: "The Houl / Simon Winstanley Architects" 14 Nov 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 19 May 2013. <http://www.archdaily.com/183064>

6 comments

  1. Thumb up Thumb down +1

    Excellent in every way. Modest in size, simple in design and construction, responsible in eco-principles and overall comfortable and homely. Oh…and that view doesn’t hurt either.
    Me want badly!

    Reply
  2. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    I wish the whole thing didn’t look like it was designed verbatim from the eco-green rulebook. Still, looks pretty comfortable inside. And it works I guess.

    Reply
  4. Thumb up Thumb down +1

    A beautiful and simple, yet, modern design, I think. For my second year project, I designed something very similar to this, in means of double pitched roof, central corridor and clerestory window. Though, my house was a two story building, and volume massing was different. But this is far more better than mine. Well done! :)

    Reply
  5. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    I think that this project and the other projects of this studio are so much like the projects of Glenn Murcutt (Pritzker Prize Winner).

    Reply

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