Client: Martin ColeArchitect: AAVA ArchitectsLocation: Brighton, United Kingdom
Date: 2024-11-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTCTags: Timber, timber frame, Stressed Skin, Low energy
Courtyard House
AAVA Architects design for a new build four bedroom room home in Brighton is composed of three intersecting pitched volumes, the materiality of which embodies a determined focus on low energy design. The project’s structural philosophy showcases a design that is aesthetically pleasing, materially efficient and low in embedded carbon. The roof structure, featuring a folded plate arrangement of plywood stress skin panels, eliminates the need for internal collar ties and transfer beams, as well as large lintels over external wall openings. This required an extremely in-depth analysis of the roof, including a very detailed study of movement in both the short term and long term.
By working with the local geology, Format Engineers were able to implement a lightweight timber framed superstructure supported on low concrete footings. These footings, comprising a thin reinforced concrete spreader on compacted gravel trenches, significantly reduced embodied energy compared to traditional mass concrete trench fill foundations.
Courtyard House has been shortlisted for the 2025 RIBA South East awards.
Image credits: All images: AAVA Architects