Crow’s Farm is a small housing development of three new-build homes organised around a giant Oak tree in Chelmsford, Essex. The houses are designed to be energy self-sufficient and look out onto the surrounding farmland. The existing rural site, located just outside Chelmsford in Essex, offered an “in-fill” opportunity to create some new housing on a plot of land between a Grade II Listed farmhouse and the more recent housing on the city periphery. The site is dominated by a giant ancient oak around which the scheme was planned. The houses range between 2 and 4 storeys and have between 4 and 6 double bedrooms each, all with integrated parking garages. The main ambition for this development was to create market housing that incorporated the latest energy-efficient technology to ensure that the houses had minimal environmental impact. Each utilises a combination of air-source heat pump and photovoltaic panels to provide heating and generate energy. Coupled with an array of Tesla batteries and integrated MVHR systems, these homes effectively offer ate “off-grid”. We used natural materials and traditional detailing throughout with a simple palette of handmade local bricks, clay roof tiles, sand cement render and timber cladding.