LOOK: Stunning Emsworth eco-home scoops top design award

Hidden away in a quiet street in Emsworth, Hampshire Passivhaus topped the ‘private’ category at the 2017 Wood Awards in November.

The highly-respected annual ceremony in London recognises properties built from wood that encourage or promote outstanding design and craftsmanship.

Architect Ruth Butler built the winning home with the help of her husband, designer Julian Sutherland, on an Emsworth brownfield site in 2015.

Mrs Butler, 49, said: ‘It was a very pleasant surprise to take home the award.

‘Our home feels like a very special place to live.

‘We always knew we wanted to live in a bespoke property, but we spent 10 years finding the perfect spot to build it.

‘We lived in London, moved to Rowlands Castle, then decided beautiful Emsworth should be the place. We’re certainly not planning on moving again any time soon.’

Named after ‘passivhaus’ – the world-leading standard of architecture in terms of energy efficiency – the couple’s home uses 75 per cent less energy than a regular UK house.

Its design means it requires little or no heating or cooling all year round.

While Mrs Butler says it cost about 7.5 per cent more to build than a typical UK home, the family expects the feat to be paid off through saved energy bills in 30 years’ time.

Announcing the grand design as a competition winner, a 2017 Wood Awards judge said: ‘The interior decoration was very simple and well-thought through. We were impressed by the design, the craftsmanship and the attention to detail. We were also shown the figures for the first year’s energy usage, which were very impressive.’

Hampshire Passivhaus was built using a mix of cross-laminated timber and Siberian larch cladding.