Passivhaus projects - the best of 2019

2019's Passivhaus highlight of the year was the Stirling Prize win for Goldsmith Street in Norwich, and it's not the only Passivhaus project to have won recognition in 2019. Awards have been plentiful for Passivhaus projects as well as for many PHT members.

Goldsmith Street

Goldsmith Street's Stirling Prize was the project's crowning accolade. It had already been recognised by the RIBA with the regional RIBA East Award, a RIBA National Award and the newly established Neave Brown Award for housing, as well as the AJ Architecture Awards best housing project (£10 million and over) and two Housing Design Awards. Described as a 'modest masterpiece', it's the first social housing scheme to win the UK's most prestigious architecture award.

This is also the first time a Passivhaus project has won the accolade. Announcing the winner at the Stirling Prize award ceremony, Alan Jones, president of the RIBA, Alan Jones, declared "the time for words is over - this is an emergency" - recognition that we must now confront the climate emergency in everything we do, across the building industry as much as anywhere. Is Passivhaus the answer? We'll be asking the question at our New Year Debate on 30 January at London South Bank University - join us to have your say.

Another standout Passivhaus social housing project, and only the first phase in an even larger Passivhaus development, Agar Grove in Camden won a RIBA National Award earlier this year. With over a year of building performance monitoring data now in place to prove how well it works, it's also made the shortlist for the Project of the Year category in the 2020 CIBSE Building Performance Awards.

Agar Grove

Inside Housing Development Awards

The social housing sector has its own dedicated awards, in the Inside Housing Development Awards, and here two Passivhaus schemes did well, with Leah Gardens in Eastleigh shortlisted in the Build to Rent category, and Cunningham House in Shettleston, Glasgow, the winner of the Best Affordable Housing Development (urban).

Cunningham House	Leah Gardens

RIBA House of the Year

Passivhaus also featured strongly in the RIBA House of the Year competition. Of 20 shortlisted projects, three were Passivhaus homes. One of them, Max Fordham House, will be featuring at the Passivhaus Superstars session at Futurebuild 2020, together with Goldsmith Street and Far Few Barn, designed by PHT member Swann Edwards Architecture and recently seen on our TV screens, in Charlie Luxton's Building the Dream. Join us on 4 March at London's ExCel to hear more.

Lark Rise	Max Fordham House	Hill House Passivhaus

Lark Rise, one of the few Passivhaus Plus buildings in the UK, was also singled out as Project of the Year at the 2019 CIBSE Building Performance Awards.

Build It Awards

Passivhaus houses were also picked out in number at the Build It Awards, which celebrates the custom and self-build sector. The Best Community or Group Self Build Project went to Cannock Mill Cohousing – which has this month welcomed its first residents. Also shortlisted, across the Best Eco Home, Best Brick Home and Best Timber Frame Home categories, were Preston Springs Passivhaus, Church Farm Barn, Zetland Road, and Larch Corner.

Cannock Mill Cohousing

Church Farm Barn	Preston Springs Passivhaus	Zetland Road

Structural Timber Awards

Larch Corner was also shortlisted for the Structural Timber Awards, along with Kintyre and Callaughtons Ash in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the latter taking home the overall prize for Low Energy Project of the Year. Timber construction is one way to massively reduce the embodied energy of new build, and as carbon reduction targets become ever more urgent, there's an increasing need to take account of embodied energy as well as carbon emissions in use. Look out for the reprise of our Passivhaus Masterclass: Getting to Net Zero in London in April, to learn more.

Larch Corner	Callaughtons Ash	Kintyre

Awards for PHT members

As well as receiving accolades for specific projects, PHT members have been recognised for their work across all their activities. In April, PHT Patron members WARM and PHT members Cundall both won best Building Performance Consultancy categories in the 2019 CIBSE Building Performance Awards. On the shortlist for the 2020 CIBSE Awards, we’re rooting for PHT members Atkins and Cundall, again shortlisted for best Building Performance Consultancy (over 300 employees). Meanwhile, in Bath, PHT member Greengauge, a small company punching above its weight nationally, won Best Consultancy at the Bath Property Awards as well as Winner of Winners. They were among the team who worked on Goldsmith Street, alongside PHT member Mikhail Riches, who were declared Architect of the Year in the AJ Architecture Awards.

ASBP Awards

Our friends at the ASBP have recently announced the shortlist for the second ASBP Awards, assessed against the ASBP’s Six Pillars of Sustainable Construction. Of the six projects selected, three are certified Passivhaus buildings. Good luck to all, and look out for the announcement of the winner at the awards ceremony at the 4^th annual Healthy Buildings Conference and Expo on 27 February in London.

Larch Corner	Geanaisean	Chester Long Court

UK Passivhaus Awards 2020

2020 will see the return of the UK Passivhaus Awards. The call for submissions will open in February, so get your certified projects and monitoring data ready!