Family friendly smart home

Peter and Katy Worthy replaced a 1950s bungalow in Surrey with an ultra-modern, efficient and high-tech family home

aving worked in the house building and design industry for

14 years, Peter Worthy knew he eventually wanted to create his own property. “We were on our honeymoon when we got an email from Rightmove about a bungalow for sale with plenty of land,” says Peter. They bought it and initially considered renovating to sell on, but when Katy became pregnant they changed their tactics. “We decided to make this our family home instead. I wanted to create a contemporary, energyefficient Passivhaus that we would stay in for many years,” says Peter.

The couple got in touch with Leigh Brooks at BWP Architects, having noted his track record for creating beautiful, modern eco houses. The couple wanted something with plenty of open-plan living, a separate playroom, a kitchen with a larder, a walk-in

Build It dressing zone, a cinema room and at least four bedrooms. Leigh came up with a five-bedroom property based on the Passivhaus principles of controlled airtightness, minimal thermal bridging and plenty of insulation to reduce energy consumption. The design would use an MBC Timber Frame structural shell – which guarantees airtightness levels at 0.6 air changes per hour (the Passivhaus threshold) and U-values below 0.10 W/m K.

Moving forward

Positioned in green belt, the countrysite plot was subject to strict planning policies, including limiting the size of replacement