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2020 WAN Awards entry: Leaf House - Planning Potential

Leaf House by Planning Potential is an entry in the Future Projects - Residential Category of the 2020 WAN Awards

by Copy taken from 2020 entry 11 June 2020 2020 Future Projects

Planning Potential and Michaelis Boyd Architects secured planning permission for the ‘Leaf House’ in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Whilst much is made of sustainable design, this home truly exemplifies a zero carbon, landscape integrated family dwelling.

The Leaf House will sit seamlessly within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, utilising state-of-the-art sustainability methods to keep the home off-grid and carbon neutral, whilst incorporating traditional artisanship, indigenous material choices and stunning landscaping to mask its appearance on the countryside.

Achieving permission for a dwelling in an isolated rural setting, and within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is extremely rare. It is only permitted when justified by truly outstanding, innovative and breathtaking design. Thanks to the dwelling’s exceptional design, the criteria of paragraph 79 in the UK’s National Planning Policy Framework was met.

The site on which the home is to be built comprises an old limestone quarry, complete with a disused lime kiln and two large barns and sheds. Several proposals had been developed previously, but none satisfied the requirements for building a home in this location.

The Leaf House is completely zero carbon, accounting for materials, operation and travel, and adopts the Passivhaus Standard. Its ground-breaking design is encapsulated in its seasonal zoning strategy, which uses an innovative glazing system to control heat during the warmer and cooler months, and protect against light pollution.

All the information about how to enter the 2020 WAN Awards is here.  

We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WAN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at [email protected].  

Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.

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