8 Malvern Gardens, Hagley, near Stourbridge, West Midlands 8 Malvern Gardens is a bespoke new build detached family home, built with a ‘fabric first’ approach, to minimise the future energy demands of the property. The Client’s requirements and brief were fully achieved with the delivered project. The Client’s aspiration was to achieve a dwelling with Passivhaus principles incorporated within it, but without being restricted to the prescribed constraints and expense of a formal Passivhaus Certified project. The Client was willing to invest in a ‘fabric first’ approach, incorporating building products that were above the ‘norm’ in terms of performance and specification, in order to achieve a family home with low future running costs. The dwelling has achieved an energy efficiency rating within band B. A rating within band A could have been achieved with the addition of a 2.5 kWp solar photovoltaic array. However, such an array would have needed to be positioned on the south (front) roofscape of the property - aesthetically this would have been detrimental to the design. The shell works of the project (floor, walls and roof) were undertaken by a Main Contractor. However, all service installations, finishing, windows and doors, external works etc. were organised, managed and undertaken by the Client. This included the on site fabrication of the bespoke metal staircase with balustrading, and the feature entrance pergola to the property. The quality of the finishes achieved are a testament to the Client and his subcontractors. Energy performance aside, the Client was keen to achieve a dwelling of architectural merit too! Design aspects such as the pallet of facade materials, the entrance pergola feature, the dynamic vertical circulation space and staircase, general detailing, make this family home ‘special’. It is a dwelling that does not wish to emphasise its sustainability credentials with its appearance; a failing of many other ‘green’ projects. The sustainability credentials exist and are very important and integral to the project outcome, but are in the background, and are ancillary to the attractive home that has been created. The primary achievement with this project is that it has provided a welcoming and sustainable family home for the Client. It is a contemporary new build detached dwelling set within an existing cul-de-sac development. The dwelling’s aesthetic ambition is to demonstrate that new build estate residential architecture does not need to be a pastiche of traditional architecture. Likewise, homes with good environmental credentials and ambitions do not need to have an ‘eco-house’ aesthetic. The dwelling is not a ‘one off’ dwelling set within open countryside, green belt or similar; it is a demonstration of how good design, well considered and detailed materials, with the incorporation of sustainable technologies, can be applied successfully within a conventional suburban ‘estate’, without producing something that is alien to its context. This is all achieved at a build cost of less than £1,000 per square metre, demonstrating that good design and ‘energy efficient’ credentials can be achieved at a sensible cost.