Novers Hill is a shortlisted entry for an ideas competition to design a community led and ecologically sensitive residential scheme for a brownfield site in south Bristol, adjacent to the much-loved Western Slopes.
FMA was one of five shortlisted teams for a competition for Goram Homes and Bristol Housing Festival, to design a residential scheme for 50 homes in south Bristol which sits just above the Western Slopes. The site gave us an opportunity to create low impact, affordable and accessible homes which embrace the natural surroundings of the Western Slopes.
The design sprang from considering the site as a route from a developed suburban fringe into the wilder green space of the Western Slopes. Density is reduced on the boundary with the Western Slopes to allow for the existing tree fringe to be retained, and a wildlife buffer of meadow grass and swale introduced as well as enhancing the existing pond to increase biodiversity on the site. Views are maintained out from the site, but the retained trees and low scale minimises the impact of the development when viewed from the Western Slopes.
The sharing of resources throughout the scheme was considered vital and took the form of energy generation, swap shops and communal growing. We have favoured shared over private spaces to encourage social interaction in order to foster a sense of community and wellbeing, with the communal landscape providing an opportunity for skill sharing and interaction between generations.
We sought to use Passivhaus design standards and certification for the project, reducing energy usage through thermal performance and Passivhaus principles. We developed a PPHP model for the terraced house type to demonstrate it meets Passivhaus criteria. The edge house type and the flat blocks have been designed with the view to achieving the same passivhaus certification.
To minimise the carbon footprint of the scheme, the housing was proposed to be timber framed using screw piles into the ground to reduce concrete use. The timber framed approach also offers some advantages in terms of continuous insulation whilst minimising the thermal bridges. Timber cladding and lime render offers further opportunities to reduce energy use with increased reflectivity from solar radiation and re-carbonation, a process by which carbon is drawn back into the material after application.
