The SiOO X Story – Protecting the Planet - Book - Page 83
Case Study 12
Chichester Grand Designs House
West Sussex, UK
Architect, Studio Fuse.
In October 2021, Daniel and Nina Rowland, the Co-Founders of
Studio Fuse were featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show. It
is viewed by many as the best episode in the twenty years history
of the show. In this time of loss of biodiversity and concern to
protect the planet, this inspirational project is near carbon neutral
and has increased biodiversity. It is an exemplar, coinciding with
the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, of what can
be achieved in the built environment.
The couple purchased a dilapidated 1930’s house which had
a 1.5 acre garden with a large and awkwardly placed stagnant
pond. Daniel went about designing a new sustainable house
that elegantly floated over a newly created natural swimming
pond. The house is highly energy efficient; firstly calling on
intelligent passive strategies and then renewables, the resulting
house is close to net zero carbon.
Great ecological enhancements were also made by this project
to improve the sites biodiversity. This was accomplished by a
carefully considered landscaping scheme and the introduction
of a natural swimming pond, all designed by Studio Fuse.
The husband and wife team can now pull back their kitchen
doors and dive straight into their natural swimming pond to
swim with the frogs and newts. They can then sit back in their
new kitchen that floats over the water, to watch the abundance
of nature that the pool attracts. This project is a rare example of
a truly beautifully symbiotic relationship between architecture,
nature and the environment.
Photo: Studio Fuse.
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