Exhibition Mews

Ash Sakula won an open design competition to construct a terrace of prototype carbon-neutral homes, which contained embedded cues for sustainable living and could be replicated on other sites. The jury of housing professionals and local residents were persuaded by Ash Sakula’s attention to how people actually want to live and how the houses would work, and were excited by a proposal that brings the construction industry closer to turning out homes that are inherently sustainable.

The design is closely attuned to the rhythms and rigours of family life. Indoors and outdoors have been thoughtfully connected. Homes are entered through a glassed, uninsulated, indoor-outdoor room - a meet-and-greet threshold space that serves as a boot-room, greenhouse, playspace and all-round stress-reducing extra space. An additional external store comfortably houses bicycles and tools.

The wild garden behind the houses is shared, but each house has its own sunken patio, accessed from the living room – a subtle and innovative treatment of the boundary between personal and communal space.

A tall, skinny building at the entrance to the terrace houses a communal recycling and refuse storage area; it also provides an attic home for bats, and eaves for house martins to nest in.