Collection · Ida Sørensen · 2020
Orchard Wall House
Set into a terrace, and warmed by the wall behind it.
The house
Sørensen used the existing orchard retaining wall as the back of the house, so the building is only three sides of new construction. The stone holds the day’s heat and releases it after dark, which is most of the heating strategy.
Every window on the south face is set into a reveal deep enough to shade it in July and let it in through October. It was modelled rather than guessed.
What makes it
- Existing dry-stone terrace forms the rear wall
- Deep south reveals, shaded in summer, open in autumn
- Thermal mass heating, minimal plant
- Mature orchard retained in full
Photographs
Specification
What isin it
Interior
- Lime plaster throughout
- Reclaimed elm floors
- Open hearth
- Cold store off the kitchen
Exterior
- Three orchard terraces
- Walled kitchen garden
- Cider press house
- Cut-stone paths
Services
- Ground-source heat pump
- Solar thermal
- Private borehole
- Three-phase supply
Where it is
Marrow Hill
Orchard terraces on a south slope, and the warmest ground in the region.
