BakerBrown Studio has established a reputation for sustainable architecture, having spent several decades working on low-energy building solutions. These range from minimising emissions during construction to designing interiors that maximise energy efficiency. This new house design in the Sussex village of Offham is a good example. The home combines locally sourced materials with an emphasis on passive solar heating and stack ventilation.
The largely single-storey property is aligned to make the most of solar gain, as well as the surrounding countryside views. The spatial arrangement integrates a number of shaded courtyards and terraces that give the impression of rooms bleeding into the landscape. Appropriately enough, the raw materials for the façades come from the surrounding fields.
Flint stones were dug up to form the cladding, set in place with traditional raked mortar, using an experienced local contractor (The Flintman Company).
The meticulous process ensured the corners and edges of the structure look sharp and refined to emphasise the solidity of the house. Charred British larch was used to clad the other exterior walls.
Inside, the living and sleeping spaces are joined by a home office. A large ash sliding door can close off the private elements of the house, which include the only upstairs room, the master bedroom.
From here there are views across the fields and woodland, with a bay window seat positioned to make the most of the landscape.
Passive heating and cooling means little unless the structure is highly insulated. The Offham house uses a timber frame, packed with insulation, along with stack ventilation to draw air through the structure.
Designed along Passivhaus principles, the new structure has PV cells, an air-source heat pump and a pioneering ‘solar thermal’ driveway, which incorporates heating loops to help bolster the home's hot water supply during the summer months. The end result is a building that is carbon negative when in operation.
BakerBrown, which was founded in 1994, has extensive experience of low-energy design, including the construction of the UK’s very first A* Energy Rated Building, and a project called The Waste House, billed as the world’s first building made of waste products.
The house in Offham continues this admirable track record of low-energy design, proving that refined design and innovation are entirely consistent with sustainable architecture.
INFORMATION
-
This new Los Angeles restaurant is a mischievous blend of dive bar and 'psychedelic honky tonk'At Marvito, small-batch tequila and a classic rock soundtrack create a delightfully nostalgic night out
-
Half bridge, half home: Wallmakers’ latest project takes architecture to daring new heightsHovering above a forest stream in Maharashtra, Bridge House in Maharashtra, India pushes the limits of engineering and eco-conscious design
-
A postcard from Dubai Design Week 2025: creativity blooms against a desert backdropThe Emirates may still shimmer with spectacle, but beyond the surface a new generation of creatives is fusing research, heritage and innovation to build sustainable, future-facing practices
-
Richard Seifert's London: 'Urban, modern and bombastically brutalist'London is full of Richard Seifert buildings, sprinkled with the 20th-century architect's magic and uncompromising style; here, we explore his prolific and, at times, controversial career
-
Meet Forefront, a cultural platform redefining the relationship between art and architectureForefront co-founder Dicle Guntas, managing director of developer HGG, tells us about the exciting new initiative and its debut exhibition, a show of lumino-kinetic sculptures in London
-
Corten curves and contemporary flair transform this terraced house in LondonCagni Williams Associates’ sensitive refurbishment of a south London Edwardian house features a striking and sustainable Corten steel extension
-
You may know it as ‘Dirty House’ – now, The Rogue Room brings 21st-century wellness to ShoreditchThe Rogue Room – set in the building formerly known as Dirty House by Sir David Adjaye, now reinvented by Studioshaw – bridges wellness and culture in London's Shoreditch
-
The architectural innovation hidden in plain sight at Frieze London 2025The 2025 Frieze entrance pavilions launch this week alongside the art fair, showcasing a brand-new, modular building system set to shake up the architecture of large-scale events
-
RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 winner is ‘a radical reimagining of later living’Appleby Blue Almshouse wins the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025, crowning the social housing complex for over-65s by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, the best building of the year
-
‘Belonging’ – the LFA 2026 theme is revealed, exploring how places can become personalThe idea of belonging and what it means in today’s world will be central at the London Festival of Architecture’s explorations, as the event’s 2026 theme has been announced today
-
Join us on a first look inside Regent’s View, the revamped canalside gasholder project in LondonRegent's View, the RSHP-designed development for St William, situated on a former gasholder site on a canal in east London, has just completed its first phase
