This house has recently been completed. It is designed to suit the needs of a family with room for expansion in the future whilst taking into account its impact on the environment. The house is designed with split levels. The entrance is at “upper ground floor level” and a dog leg staircase delivers from here to the various levels. The plan consists of a large open plan ground floor providing the dining and kitchen areas with an attached “snug”. The living room and children’s room are two separated rooms at either end. To the front of the house there is a large bay window which continues to the first floor, and to the rear there is a large double-height volume creating a huge sense of space in this open-plan area. The site has a steep slope; this meant the plan is relatively narrow and the site preparations were extensive. A retaining wall was built to form a terrace area to the front of the house. Bedrooms are at first floor level with views across the valley to the south. The main roof space is left ready to be converted into a long attic room. A cellar and plant room is provided under the entrance area. At this stage, foundations have been provided for a future garage with office over. The house was built using a timber frame with 300mm recycled newspaper insulation to the walls and and 400mm recycled newspaper roof. Further to this there are a number of solar thermal panels, sufficient enough to provide hot water and to assist with heating the house through the winter. There are large areas of glazing to the south façade to ensure passive solar gain, shaded by a roofed balcony at first floor level to prevent over-heating. A key feature of the construction of the house is that the air leakage rate is minimal – 1.38 m3/m2/hr at 50 Pascals! The external walling is rendered gables with part stone and part oak cladding; the roof is tiled with plain tiles.