We’re delighted to report that we made it! Our first-in-world project to create a Passivhaus-certified home from the Victorian former church which stands in our front garden received official certification on 19 September, at the Passivhaus Trust annual conference at the University of Oxford.
This means that we’ve taken another important step on the Net Zero pathway. At our home, we have electrified everything and eliminated fossil fuels. At Warksburn Old Church, we have taken all that learning and ‘started from scratch’ with a total rebuild programme which has also delivered extraordinary levels of thermal insulation and airtightness.
As the image illustrates, churches are, in general, rather helpfully orientated East – West, which means they have large South-facing roof slopes. Which are great places to put lots of solar panels!
We explicitly designed Warksburn Old Church to enable guests to experience for themselves how radical energy efficiency can be combined with luxury, in a historic building with retains its heritage features.
We’re now open for bookings. After a 70 week build programme it was a positive pleasure to walk past the building one evening recently and see the lights on through the stained glass windows. It’s great to be welcoming guests to enjoy Net Zero luxury in beautiful rural Northumberland. For more information about this unique building, please visit the Warksburn Old Church website.
