Copperfield
A low-carbon three-bedroom new-build, designed to beat its Target Emission Rate by at least 50%, taken from sketch design through to completion on site.
- Location
- Leysdown, Sheerness, Kent
- Type
- New-build dwelling
- Status
- Completed
- Year
- 2023
- RIBA stages
- 3–6
- Practice
- PJArchitecture
A new-build three-bedroom dwelling for a returning developer client. Planning was granted on the condition that the house achieve at least a 50% reduction in Dwelling Emission Rate against the Target Emission Rate — a brief that shaped every decision, from the fabric-first build-up to the choice of plant.
I carried the project from sketch design through to completion on site, producing all Stage 4 general arrangement drawings and submitting a Full Plans application. The detailing pairs a continuous, well-sealed thermal envelope — full-fill cavity insulation, Celotex between and across the rafters, a continuous vapour control layer — with an air-source heat pump, solar panels and an EV charging point designed in from the outset rather than added on.
Day to day, the project meant coordinating a wide cast: the client, the planning officer, the approved inspector, the energy and solar consultants, the heat-pump supplier, and statutory undertakers including Southern Water for new sewer and surface-water connections. Completed October 2023.
