Cherhill:

Design & Construction Innovation
Environmental Technologies
Intelligent Technologies
Assessment
Project Team

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Westlea HA INTEGER Home, Cherhill

The brief for the project was to create two family houses, with a minimum of three bedrooms. The rent for the homes was to be geared to reflect the savings in the running costs of the properties.

Detailed information is on Westlea's INTEGER website which opens in a new window in your browser




Design and Construction Innovation
 
• Limited wet-trades

• Off-site pre-fabrication of timber panels meant that the superstructure of the homes took only two weeks to erect
 
• Recycled newspaper cellulose insulation

• Central service ducts carrying wet and dry services
 
• Removable ducts at skirting and ceiling level allowing for easy access for installation and modification of main service routes
 
• A service void behind the plasterboard internal wall surfaces allows for additional switches and sockets to be added in the future without damage to the building fabric

 
 
 

Environmental Technologies

• Water savings of over 40% through the use of grey water recycling
 
• Recycled water-butts collect rainwater for garden irrigation
 
• Fan-assisted passive stack effect ventilation system
 
• Many recycled materials used, including railway sleepers and telegraph poles for retaining walls, and plastic from milk cartons as boundary fencing and decking to the rear patio
 
• Low energy light fittings
 
• Materials such as the Western Red Cedar cladding have been selected for sustainability, low embodied energy, long life and low maintenance
 
• Rooftop solar water heaters providing free hot water for the houses
 
• Use of solar spaces as a temperature barrier between the insulated house and the external atmosphere help maintain heat in the winter and keep the houses cool in the summer

 
 
 

Intelligent Technologies

• Whole house accessible cabling for telephony, computers, CCTV security and energy management, making every service available in any room
 
• Simple and precise controls for heating, reducing energy wastage
 
• Sophisticated lighting controls allowing for control of all lights from a single point
 
• Movement sensors linked to the lighting system to provide unobtrusive floor level light paths for night-time wandering or in the event of fire
 
• Off-peak electric storage heaters linked to motion sensors which only release heat when movement is detected in the room
 
• CCTV cameras on both front and back doors and motion initiated lights allow pictures of visitors to be shown on the TV screen
 
• Emergency lights at the top of each flight of stairs and in the dining area automatically operate in the event of a power failure. The lights can be detached and used as torches to find the way to the fuse-box in the event of a blown fuse

 
 

Assessment

The INTEGER Cherhill project achieved the highest score of 28 schemes assessed under the DTLR Housing Quality Indicator programme. The score of 77% compares favourably with the mean score of 50% for other comparable schemes.
 

 
 
 
Project Team

Client: Westlea Housing Association

Architects: Bree Day Partnership (design and building regs.), Westlea HA (detailed design)

Intelligent Systems: i&i limited

Services Engineer: Oscar Faber

Structural Engineer: Anthony Ward Partnership

Quantity Surveyor: Westlea HA

Contractor: Redstone Construction