Allerton Park, Leeds
This is made up of 3 adjoining houses which were built by three families, starting in 1993. They were constructed according to the Walter Segal self build method and incorporated a number of ecological principles -
- High insulation values. Most of the external surfaces have 200mm of insulation, some roofs up to 400. Glazing is generally double, 16mm gap, argon filled, low E.
- Low embodied energy. They are timber structures with mostly timber cladding to the rear. The concrete foundations, being the Segal block type, used less cement than similar strip foundations. There is no concrete blinding.
- Ecological building materials. It was attempted to source the maximum non polluting materials as locally as possible. Much of the timber came from within a 30 mile radius.
- Breathing construction. This was a fairly new concept at the time of building and was incorporated into many of the areas.
- Living roofs where the planners would allow it. There are sedum roofs to the rear of the houses but clay tiles had to be used to the front.
- SUDS for the car parking, using interlocking recycled plastic. This allows rainwater to drain down into the ground.
- Rain water harvesting in tanks beneath the houses.
- Composting toilets are used to avoid the pollution associated with sewerage.
- Reed bed grey water treatment. The houses are not connected to main drainage.
- Full water recycling was originally installed but proved too heavy on maintenance for a group of only three houses.
With the building work being started in 1993, standards such as Code for Sustainable Homes and Passivhaus were not in existance (though BREEAM for domestic building was in its infancy) so some of the standards which are currently being brought in such as air tightness were hardly known about. As the houses face east-west and are overshaddowed by trees it was not feasable to incorporate solar collection. Heating is by condensing gas boilers in all three houses.
One or more of these houses have been open to the public on occasions. Particularly 11a is sometimes open on the Open House weekend in late September.
Architect - Jonathan Lindh of LEDA
Engineers - Melia Smith and Jones Ltd
