Hogshill, Cobham

Two family homes, moments from the High Street…

Two detached family homes for Veda Homes, a short walk from Cobham High Street, built in timber frame and brick.  Veda’s brief, in its own words, was homes “promoting mindfulness, positivity, health, and longevity, whilst also supporting the protection of the planet”.

We Design For set the MEP strategy and Part L compliance approach for both houses. Our aim was low running costs and steady comfort, delivered by simple systems that don’t intrude on a family home.

Low temperature, high efficiency…

• Heating and hot water: air source heat pumps (Mitsubishi, 11.2 kW) with underfloor heating sized for a 35°C flow temperature. Keeping the water that cool is what lets a heat pump run at its best; at design stage it made the heating over four times as efficient as the gas boiler in the Building Regulations’ benchmark house. [Confirm the installed system matches.]
• Fresh air: whole-house mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (Vent-Axia Sentinel Kinetic), recovering 90% of the heat from outgoing air and supplying filtered fresh air to every habitable room.
• Lighting: LED throughout at 100 lumens per watt.
• Water: fittings selected to keep consumption under 125 litres per person per day.
• All-electric: no gas, so the homes’ carbon falls further as the grid decarbonises.

The numbers (as designed, RIBA Stage 2)…

• Over 63% lower CO₂ emissions than the Building Regulations target (65% for House A, 63% for House B). The planning condition asked for 19%.
• Over 26% lower primary energy than the target (33% for House A, 27% for House B).