The architects were faced with a difficult task - to expand the old miller's house so that the view that opens when the river turns does not change. The fact is that the house and the mill stand on the banks of the bend of the Ant River, far from civilization (3 hours from London), away from highways, but on weekends the river turns into a crowded highway: boats, boats float along it, kayaks. For everyone, the picturesque view is important - a pastoral painting that arose here in the 19th century. The Mill House is one of the most photographed views of Norfolk and can be found on tea towels, postcards and boxes of chocolates.
When designing an extension to the house, the architects came up with an ingenious solution: instead of constructing another Victorian volume of red brick or a modest glass box, they hid the extension behind an old brick building, transforming it into a triple "shadow" of an old house with charred wood paneling. In this case, "charred" is not a comparison, but a statement of fact - external wall panels made of glued wood are sheathed with charred cedar boards. The result is an extremely expressive poetic image. In addition, the area of the extended cottage has more than doubled, but the structure does not look bulky and does not spoil the landscape.
The Hunsent Mill Cottage was developed as an independent, autonomous organism. The building's only resource is electricity. But to save it, energy-saving technologies are used. Ground source heat pumps work for hot water supply and central heating. In addition, solar collectors with an area of 2 m² are installed on the roof, which provide up to 60% of the consumed volume of hot water.
One of the main objectives of the project was to be able to maximize the amount of daylight and solar heat during the winter months, which would help take advantage of free solar energy and passive heating. Therefore, the walls of the house are cut through by large multi-format windows, which open “living” landscapes with a mill, fields and swamps into the interior, filling it with the already bright space with sunbeams.
VELUX windows are installed not only in the walls, but also in the roofs, to illuminate bedrooms and improve the natural ventilation of the house. The house is small, and skylights were a great solution to illuminate individual bedrooms. So much attention was paid to the flow of sunlight and heat into the interior that the window openings in the old building were widened. The win was double - more light and stunning views of the surroundings.
And in order to keep the privacy of the inhabitants of the house out of sight, most of the windows have a mirrored surface. Double-glazed windows are filled with argon, which improves their heat and sound insulating properties.
The choice of building materials also corresponds to energy saving. Glued timber, used as load-bearing structures and decoration, has a high heat capacity, which allows it to accumulate heat during the daytime and gradually release it at night. Such passive heating significantly reduces the cost of heating fluids.
Architectural studio Acme, who designed the building, has received several awards and nominations, including the RIBA (Manser Medal) for Best New Home in the UK in 2010. At the award ceremony, the jury said that "this building looks more like a work of art than a country house."
We can say that respect for the historical landscape, combined with modern technical capabilities, inspired the authors to create, on the one hand, a bright and intriguing architectural image, and on the other, a delicate, attentive to the environment and at the same time energy efficient building.
Among the important planning techniques that allow you to save energy by purely architectural means is the orientation of the building to the cardinal directions. To the north, from where cold winds blow, and where not much sunlight enters, the building opens with the least number of openings, and as many windows as possible look to the south and west. With such a layout, if dormers are installed on the roof slopes, the interiors of the house are illuminated with natural light until dusk. Ventilation valves with filters installed on the windows prevent the ingress of dust and allow you to ventilate the room without opening the windows in bad weather or cold seasons. To improve the acoustic microclimate, special double-glazed windows with reinforced sound insulation are used.
On the other hand, the automation of the building's life support systems and various devices that help to get the maximum benefit, which is called "free", provide great technical capabilities. Today it is not necessary to be at home to draw the curtains and close the window if it rains, snows or hails. We have sensors at our disposal that are installed in the window structure and rotate the blinds in bright sunlight and close the window sashes at the first raindrops. Dimmers and dimmers effectively balance the available natural light and the need for artificial lighting, thereby minimizing the use of electricity.
VELUX has developed these solar-powered control devices. The energy of the sun is converted in them into electricity, which is accumulated inside special elements. The solar powered window is remotely controlled. It can be equipped with roller blinds and shades, roller shutters and blinds. A full charge of the battery lasts for 600 openings and closings. Roller shutters on roof windows provide 97% protection against overheating during the day and 15% protection against cooling at night. And the curtains increase the thermal protection of the window by 20%.
Autonomous power supply includes natural solar heating, heat pumps, seasonal heat storage and photovoltaic solar cells - collectors. Solar collectors provide up to 70% of the energy needed to produce hot water. Therefore, the installation of solar panels is already considered as a full-fledged alternative source of energy, which not only saves resources, but also reduces the production of electricity, in which fuel is burned, which leads to the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere and the creation of a greenhouse effect - solar cells with an area of only 7.2 sq..m reduce CO2 emissions by 1 ton per year.
It is not surprising that the use of solar energy has become a matter of national importance, and in the United States there is already a state program “Million solar roofs”, and in Germany - “One hundred thousand solar roofs”. For example, on the roof of the BMW World shopping and information center in Munich, 6,300 square meters of solar panels are installed, which provide 800 kW of energy - an eighth of the electricity required for the building.
All this ensures a healthy and comfortable microclimate and saves energy. But it is also important that these rational, utilitarian technologies have the most positive effect on the aesthetics of the building.
