The diagonally coursed Siberian larch cladding is nearing completion at our ICF Eco-Home in Scarborough. The timber provides a low-carbon, elegant skin to the family home which will season to a palette of soft greys as the home weathers in.
The hillside house was built with insulated concrete formwork blocks, allowing the home’s walls to be erected like Lego in quick succession.
The blocks are filled with waterproof concrete and the outside face of the building is again wrapped with waterproofing. This weathertight shell could be clad with a range of different materials, with Siberian larch cladding chosen for its low embodied carbon as well as its natural, warm texture and colour.
The harsh Siberian climate makes larch one of the most durable, stable and pest-resistant species of wood; making it the ideal choice for a natural, long-lasting facade.
A host of materials including timber cladding, stone, brick and render appear in the facades of the surrounding Scarborough neighbourhood, and our hillside eco-home continues this eclectic palette with not only diagonal timber but also natural stone and render on different parts of the home.
The coursing of our Hillside House’ larch cladding reflects the optimised angle of the home’s solar roof, allowing the most energy and sunlight to be captured by the eco-home.
A great benefit of choosing a timber cladding system like this is that individual cladding pieces can be replaced discretely over the building’s life without having to completely reclad the building, which would be impossible in a stone or brick cladding system fixed together with mortar. Negating the need for mortar and carbon-intensive materials such as bricks also provides great ecological benefit to the home, lowering its overall carbon footprint as timber absorbs CO2 rather than expelling it during its making.
The eco-homes timber finish will reflect the eventual mature vegetation and landscaping that will occur up the steep terraces and gardens of the site, helping deeply embed the home into nature.
The ambition of living in a different way, a way that is better connected to nature and a way that minimises the financial and ecological costs of living whilst maximising quality of life is a paradigm reflected in every aspect of this home.
Built with a highly efficient, Swedish insulating formwork system, supplied by Jackon & installed by ICF Building Solutions & Bondmor Developments, allows this family home to operate comfortably without any heating system, relying principally on the heat of the sun, a heat recovery ventilation system (MVHR) and the warmth of the home’s family.
Embedded into the sandstone hillside of its Scarborough site minimises the area of the home’s envelope which is exposed to the elements, achieving lower levels of heat loss and exposure to harsh winter weather.
The Hillside House is a forward-thinking case study for how homes in Yorkshire and across the UK can be built to much higher living standards with minimal heating and energy costs, a strong connection to nature & the surrounding landscape, and adaptability to modern patterns of living, all on a modest budget typical of a new-build three-bedroom house.
