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The courtyard at Echo Barn, a Para 55 energy efficient passive house. Another grand design by Hawkes Architecture.
Aerial view of Echo Barn, a Para 55 energy efficient passive house. Another grand design by Hawkes Architecture.

Paragraph 84 (Para 55)

Echo Barn

This unique home combines agricultural aesthetics with modern sustainability, using PV-T panels and an Earth Energy Bank for efficient energy storage and heating.

New Build

Respecting the hierarchy of a farmstead

Completed in 2017 this large family home, adjacent to listed farm buildings, was built on a disused agricultural plot in the Kent countryside. The veil of louvres wrap around the main house and give the sense that this may still be an agricultural barn.

Materials

Exterior

Two single storey timber and mathematical tiled barns define a public courtyard on entering the site and a private courtyard on the south east side of the house.

The PV-T panel mounted on the roof harness solar energy as electricity and heat. The heat is extracted and dumped beneath the Paragraph 84 (Para 55) building into the Earth Energy Bank, inter seasonal heat store which will heat the house during the winter months.

Plan arrangement

Formal arrangement separates south facing arrival & private garden spaces

Plan of Echo Barn, a Para 55 energy efficient passive house. Another grand design by Hawkes Architecture.

Technology

Sustainable Timber Construction

Like all HAWKES projects, Echo Barn is built upon rigorous low carbon design principles; both in its efficiency in use and in the use of low embodied carbon materials in its construction. In collaboration with a highly experienced timber frame engineer we built a 3d model of the frame which enabled us to optimise its construction efficiency. We could also coordinate the MVHR ductwork into the frame so that the installation would be fully resolved prior to construction on site.


Planned with a high degree of accuracy, this enabled windows to be delivered to site “just in time” so that they can be fitted as soon as the frame was erected. This is helpful in that it helps us to seal up the timber frame quickly and free up the interior for fit out trades to progress. By fitting the windows directly from delivery we also avoid double handling and the potential of damage is significantly reduced.

The cavities between the engineered beams within the walls and roof are later packed full with recycled newspaper insulation which is mixed with Boron salt to make it fire retardant and vermin resistant. This highly sustainable form of insulation is an exceptional high performance material with an extremely low embodied energy footprint. The material is also hygroscopic and so can help to regulate and optimise internal Relative Humidity within the building and thus optimise the health of the internal environment passively and not reliant upon active mechanical means.

Our timber frames are also designed to maximise airtightness and in doing so reduce the loss of heat through the thermal envelope. This goes a long way to reducing operational running costs for heating during the winter months.
Find out more in “Our Ethos” section on the website.

Our Ethos
Energy efficiency rating (EPC) for Echo Barn, a Para 55 energy efficient passive house. Another grand design by Hawkes Architecture.
3D model of the frame of Echo Barn, a Para 55 energy efficient passive house. Another grand design by Hawkes Architecture.
Construction at Echo Barn, a Para 55 energy efficient passive house. Another grand design by Hawkes Architecture.

Like all HAWKES projects, Echo Barn is built upon rigorous low carbon design principles; both in its efficiency in use and in the use of low embodied carbon materials in its construction. In collaboration with a highly experienced timber frame engineer we built a 3d model of the frame which enabled us to optimise its construction efficiency. We could also coordinate the MVHR ductwork into the frame so that the installation would be fully resolved prior to construction on site.


Planned with a high degree of accuracy, this enabled windows to be delivered to site “just in time” so that they can be fitted as soon as the frame was erected. This is helpful in that it helps us to seal up the timber frame quickly and free up the interior for fit out trades to progress. By fitting the windows directly from delivery we also avoid double handling and the potential of damage is significantly reduced.

The cavities between the engineered beams within the walls and roof are later packed full with recycled newspaper insulation which is mixed with Boron salt to make it fire retardant and vermin resistant. This highly sustainable form of insulation is an exceptional high performance material with an extremely low embodied energy footprint. The material is also hygroscopic and so can help to regulate and optimise internal Relative Humidity within the building and thus optimise the health of the internal environment passively and not reliant upon active mechanical means.

Our timber frames are also designed to maximise airtightness and in doing so reduce the loss of heat through the thermal envelope. This goes a long way to reducing operational running costs for heating during the winter months.
Find out more in “Our Ethos” section on the website.

Our Ethos