Hunsett Mill

An extension to a 19th century mill keeper’s house in the Broads.

Project Details +

Project Details

LOCATION: Norfolk

DATE: 2006-2009

CLIENT: Private

STATUS: Completed

SIZE: 213sqm

Credits +

Credits

ACME: Stefano Dal Piva, Friedrich Ludewig, Karoline Markus, with Nerea Calvillo and Chris Yoo

CONSULTANTS:

AKT

Hoare Lea

Cyril Swett Philip Panks & P. Willow Builders

Eurban

Nuttall

PHOTOGRAPHY

Cristobal Palma

ACME

The house is adjacent to the well-known historic grade 2 listed Hunsett Mill. The house was the residence for the keeper of the mill until 1900, when electricity made wind-powered pumps redundant.

The structure is entirely made from solid cross-laminated timber walls, slabs and roofs. This material possesses manifold advantages. As well as acting as the primary structural element, the material functions as an effective insulating member, and also as thermal mass to regulate the internal temperature of the dwelling, reducing the need for night-time heating.

No internal cladding has been used as all timber is left exposed. The timber is FSC certified, meaning it is harvested from sustainable forests where more trees are planted than felled, the welfare of those producing the material is assured, and the reasonable maximum travel distances for the transport of materials are enforced. This verifiable life-cycle approach to the material assures that the house functions as a carbon sink, where the carbon content of the wood is counted against any other carbon cost in the build, and is only returned to the atmosphere when the material is burned as biomass fuel at the end of its life.

In order for the new extension to retreat behind the listed setting of the Mill, the new additions to the house are designed as shadows of the existing house. The Structure of the extension is made entirely from solid laminated wood, which is exposed in the interior and clad in charred cedar boards externally. Ground source heat pumps, passive solar heating and independent water well supply will make the house almost fully self-sufficient.