Smart House

The project saw the formation of a new digital skills and innovation campus at BT’s Adastral Park. The purpose of the Smart House is to act as a live building through within which new technologies can be tested in an environment that simulates real world conditions. Through the project, Studio Manifest aim to address two of the most pressing concerns that we currently face; climate change, and the impact the construction industry has on this; and the UK housing crisis, which sees the chronic shortage of affordable housing. Early development of the project also engaged the community by including a Design Hackathon with architecture students from across the region to develop the outline concept for the scheme. The completed two-bedroom house has achieved a zero-carbon occupancy and a 50% reduction in embodied carbon within the building fabric. At the same time, it has been developed through a model that can be built out at scale whilst achieving very significant savings in construction costs over similarly minded low energy schemes. In the longer term, the building utilises smart systems that evaluate the performance of sustainable materials, low carbon energy and water consumption. This is coupled with critical consideration of the wider landscape through ecological design. Having been designed to exceed regulatory performance requirements, as environmental policy continues to develop, it is hoped that the project will inform this discussion and encourage developers to integrate similarly high-performance specification within all new developments. The house exemplifies contemporary housing design in terms of sustainability, design, and affordability, but will also play a significant role in helping to improve the way we live now and in the future.