Creative Yorkshire Passive House

There’s more to this Yorkshire home than meets the eye - literally.

Sort Trae is a two-bedroom home and studio and a Passivhaus (certification pending). By working with, rather than against, the landscape of the plot, this home manages to be sensitive to the surrounding area while still enjoying panoramic views of the rolling South Yorkshire countryside.

Set into a steeply sloping hill, the lower storey is almost entirely concealed on entering the driveway. The only signs of its existence are slick FAKRO rooflights set into a crisp green roof that is surrounded by an open-jointed stone wall.

Norrsken’s bright orange insulated timber entrance door stands out starkly against the black timber cladding.

Open the door, though, and a light-filled, naturalistic house full of warm timber accents greets you.

The owner of Sort Trae is a former architect herself and designed the project up to the planning stage. It shows. An entire wing of the building is dedicated to a weaving studio where light floods into the creative space through S214A folding doors.

Design work after handover from the client was led by Sheffield-based HEM Architects, who are renowned for their industry-leading Passive House and retrofit projects and expert team.

The team at HEM specified Passive House certification - ‘the world’s leading standard in energy efficiency’ - to provide the most eco-friendly, comfortable living experience possible.

Building work was carried out by Terry Huggett Developments (THD), a team of conscious developers with years of experience and dozens of Passive House and low-energy projects under their belts.

Norrsken’s triple-glazed aluminium clad timber windows and doors provide Sort Trae with glazing that matches the outstanding thermal performance of the building’s fabric.

Our team was aware that this was to be a Passive House from the outset, so we supplied our P31A window profile for its excellent thermal performance and slim sightline.

With S315A sliding doors on the ground floor providing near uninterrupted views of the surrounding countryside, light floods the home. The project also used our S309A framed entrance doors and P33A inward-opening windows.

We love the way timber window frames pick up wood accents throughout the house - in the stairs, furniture, and even the weaving studio.

With so much glazing concentrated on one facade, how does this passive house avoid overheating? The rooms have cleverly concealed blinds, to prevent overheating in summer.

Says THD founder and Director Terry Huggett of Norrsken products:

"[They are] amazing windows that I can recommend to anyone looking for high performance, quality and style. I’ve used them on several projects and always had an amazing experience. My clients love them."