The relationship between client and Architect is one of trust. When appointing an Architect for your scheme you need to find someone you can work with and who has both the design skills and technical know how. Like buying a book, you will need to look at past work, talk to others and read the cover notes so that you have an idea of what to expect. For this project we had a client who had previous experience of building a house, not all of which was good, and having purchased a site with an existing dwelling on it, was ready to start the process of building a new house; but this time a little wiser. DUA Architecture were the fourth practice that our client approached and we are pleased to report that construction is now underway. As with all our work, context is a key factor and we give particular importance to orientation - how will the sun fall on the building? Is there shelter from the prevailing wind? Can passive solar energy be used to heat the house for free? Are there trees that will provide summer shading? In this instance the plot is long and narrow, running east to west. Therefore building a conventional house with windows front and back would limit the amount of sunlight into the property. The thinking was that by moving the habitable accommodation to the north of the site and stepping the plan in to the south, maximum solar gain could be achieved. This led to the internal layout being rotated through 45 degrees, corresponding to the stepped plan and generating dynamic internal spaces. The design of the house makes best use of the available sunlight, so it was vital that the fabric of the building could retain the heat. To achieve this, the walls and roof were designed with levels of insulation well in excess of that required under UK building regulations. With regards to the environmental credentials of a building we are firmly of the belief that passive systems should be the starting point for any project, with ‘gadgets‘ taking a secondary role. When required, the house is warmed by underfloor heating and to ensure that heat is not lost through ventilation a heat recovery system has been employed. As with nearly all new houses we include solar collectors which are installed to generate hot water.