This eco home built with recycled building materials, was designed and owner-built by architect Robert Elkins, who is Creative Director of Artel31. The home features an array of sustainable features, including renewable energy and biodiverse landscaping, and supports a vision of environmentally responsible design that works in harmony with its natural surroundings.
Robert and his family decided to cut down the miles they were commuting and move closer to his practice in Chippenham, UK. This is their second self-build project, with Robert designing and building almost all the internal lights and much of the furniture. The aim for the design was to create a family home that connected to nature while providing privacy in an urban area.
The home built with recycled materials includes reclaimed flooring, wall cladding, doors, furniture, landscaping, and stairs. It is slowly built to allow reclaimed materials to be sourced locally to the site.
The unique timber boards for the flooring were sourced from an old sports hall which was being demolished – the colours are the old lines of the various courts laid in a random pattern.
The external cladding is reclaimed oak planks cut into strips by a local timber mill to use as the cladding.
Sustainability Features
- Extensive use of reclaimed building materials
- Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)
- Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
- Photovoltaic solar panels
- Natural sustainable materials and reused materials
- Environmental construction policy to minimise chemical use and construction waste
- Electric car charging and allocated space for future battery installation
- Minimal internal structure to allow future alteration
- High insulation levels
- Rain water harvesting
- Biodiverse landscaping
A garden wall bounds the main southerly living spaces – both internal and external- isolating them from the busy thoroughfare beyond. A central courtyard links the offset open plan living and a utility core, in a playful shed form, holds practical elements of houses, which are best concealed. An expressed structure is contrasted internally and externally to allow a better understanding of the spaces.
This home built with recycled materials, has been designed to sit lightly on the earth and be a practical, beautiful home that will last its owners for many years to come.
