House looks and acts like a leaf
A residential building shaped like a leaf also acts like one.
A sustainable, solar-panelled residential building in the shape of a leaf has been given planning approval.
Renowned architect Richard Hawkes of Hawkes Architecture is the designer behind the contemporary project: Headlands House. Set between two ridge and furrow fields, the new dwelling will sit on the outskirts of Cheltenham.
The design encompasses a flat roof and forms the distinctive shape of a leaf when viewed from above. Despite appearances, the main attraction is the combination of solar panels and roofing membrane that Hawkes has used. These reflect a plant's ingrained photosynthesis process of converting and storing solar energy. The photovoltaic solar panels will absorb the solar energy to use as electricity, while the roofing membrane will convert heat into thermal energy below.
As a result, the roof will act as a year-round source of electricity and heat, through storing the excess in an earth energy bank for the heavier energy demands of winter.
Minimise Generation are providing the photovoltaic panels that form part of the design, which was approved on July 7 by Tewkesbury Borough Council's Planning Committee under National Planning Policy Framework Paragraph 55.
Project details
Size: 335m2
Predicted cost: £2,500/m2
Predicted EPC: A/A
<15 kWh/m2/annum heat load
<80 kWh/m2/annum predicted Primary Energy consumption
Technology details
Earth Energy Bank for inter-seasonal heat storage
MVHR heat recovery ventilation system
Heat exchanger linking heat store with MVHR system
220v voltage optimisation
5kW PV system
Li-Ion battery storage
1,000L phase change thermal store
