VELUX Model Home 2020 project moves forward as planning permission is submitted

22 March 2010

The VELUX Model Home 2020 project, which involves the construction of two zero carbon homes in Rothwell, Kettering, has moved a step closer with the submission of the planning permission to Kettering Borough Council by HTA Architects.

The proposed site for the three and four bed semi detached properties is located within the second phase of the Bovis Homes Charter Park development to the South of Rothwell.

The pioneering residential scheme was conceived by VELUX to prove that it is possible to build energy efficient, sustainable housing that is practical, comfortable and appealing to the consumer while being easily and affordably replicated by the volume house builder – setting it apart from the prototypes built previously by other firms.

If the project gets the go ahead, it aims to set a benchmark for future new communities. The design of the properties, which will be open plan and incorporate high levels of daylight and natural ventilation, intends to minimise energy use among residents and generate a sense of community while advocating a respect and nurture of the environment. The aesthetics of the scheme will be sympathetic to the local context but retain an identity of their own.

Detailed consultation has taken place with Kettering Borough Council throughout the project’s design stages and the Council has been supportive of the proposal. VELUX is working with other key partners HTA Architects, Willmott Dixon and North Northants Development Company (NNDC) to ensure the successful delivery of the project.

Kevin Brennan, head of sustainability at VELUX Company Ltd, comments: "We are now a step closer to conducting our Model Home 2020 experiment and look forward to being able to demonstrate an exemplar for future sustainable homes and communities both in Kettering and elsewhere. The Council has been extremely supportive of our proposals and we hope to be breaking ground within a month.

"The homes will be built with a 70% reduction in carbon emissions, with the remaining 30% offset by allowable solutions, such as improvements to existing housing stock, and we are confident that they will encourage occupants to live sustainable lifestyles while remaining comfortable, practical and appealing. Their location within an existing Bovis Homes development will allow the growth of a sustainable community and strong neighbourhood relationships."

Michael Black, group production and quality control director at Bovis Homes, adds: "We fully support the path and timescale to zero carbon housing and are delighted to have agreed terms and be able to work with VELUX to provide a plot of land within our Charter Park development for its Model Home 2020 project, helping to progress the evolution of consumer friendly, low energy homes that can be rolled out on a mass scale."

The wider VELUX Model Home 2020 project is Europe-wide and incorporates plans to build eight one-to-one experiments between 2008 and 2010, in the form of eight demonstration buildings in several European countries. The buildings will all reflect and respond to three main principles – efficient energy design, high liveability factor and minimum climatic impact – as well as the different climatic, cultural and architectural conditions of the countries that they are in.

The projects in Denmark (Copenhagen, Aarhus) have already been completed, with the UK, Austria, Germany and France on track to follow in 2010. Each house will also have a number of local and regional partners, suppliers, architects, engineers and researchers.

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