A formal drawing room on one side of the entrance hall is complemented by the large open plan kitchen, dining and family spaces on the other side, all of which open directly to the south facing garden with large areas of south facing glass. The new house is a modern 300m2 detached two-storey, five-bed dwelling with double-height entrance hall/conservatory contained within an obtuse L-shaped plan form. Just as well, as Dublin City Council had some very definite planning requirements for the site, and views into neighbouring properties were a particular concern on the asymmetric plot. The Passive House Planning Package ( PHPP) - the software used to design passive buildings - is flexible enough to accommodate an unlimited variety of features, house types and sizes. This fits with my approach to passive house design - there should be no compromise on design quality or the client's accommodation requirements. The fact I was proposing the passive house standard was not necessarily the first priority. After taking one look at the sketches for the replacement option there was no turning back - the client was converted. I presented a speculative design option - uncalled for in the brief - involving demolition of the existing dwelling and its replacement with a new house that would maximise the solar potential of the site and bring the garden into view from all the main rooms. On my first visit I was struck by the elevated site’s solar potential, and the failure of the existing building to exploit views of the mature gardens (with the Dublin mountains on the horizon) or the available southerly aspect. In 2006, I was recommended to a client seeking an extension to a 19th century artisan cottage on a suburban plot in Ballymun, Dublin by the client’s business partner. Sustainable architect Simon McGuinness describes a project in north Dublin which is set to surpass the onerous standard using a different system – structural insulated panels ( SIPs). As buildings featured in recent issues of Construct Ireland have shown, there are many ways of building a passive house.
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