Newbuild home targeting the Passivhaus Premium standard, built in a Cambridgeshire village on the site of former farm barns.
The project, led by Archangel Architects, has recently been commended in the Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2026 in the ‘Best new building under £3m’ category.
The building has been designed with the ambition of achieving Passivhaus Premium certification, which is currently being finalised. A fabric-first approach is combined with and integrated renewable energy strategy to enable the project to meet Passivhaus Premium criteria. The layout prioritises daylight, long views and a strong connection between inside and out. The house has also been designed for long-term living arranged to support changing needs over time, with generous circulation and flexible accommodation.
Greengauge provided M&E Design services for the project.
Strategy
The clients’ target of achieving Passivhaus Premium and desire for an all-electric energy system drove Greengauge’s strategy for the building services on the project. Integration of the services within the home’s ‘smart tech’ features added additional complexity to building services design.
Project team
Architect: Archangel Architects
Main Contractor: Seamans Building
M&E Design: Greengauge
Structural Engineer: Andrew Firebrace Partnership
Planning Consultant: Carter Jonas
Audiovisual/Automations/Security: Arcadia Systems
Photos: Duck End Barns © Richard Fraser Photography
Key data
“The Duck End Barns project is an exemplar of energy efficient building services strategies –utilising optimal approache from the ground source heat pump to the waste water heat recovery systems. Targeting Passivhaus Premium certification has been a key driver in implementing these best practice approaches. ”
Oscar Garcia-Mendez, Senior Building Services Engineer, Greengauge
Key features
Heating & cooling
It was decided to have a ground source heat pump (GSHP) as a main heat source, connected to underfloor heating system within the home.
The GHSP system was completed with dedicated heat exchangers to provide passive (or free) cooling to lower the temperature of the home during the summer. The heat exchangers are connected to the borehole system to provide “free” cooling via the ventilation system and the hydraulic underfloor system.
Ventilation strategy
A large MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery) system was designed for the project, complete with a brine heat exchanger to provide tempering via the ventilation system. To ensure the MVHR ductwork would fit well with the home designs, the system was modelled in 3D in coordination of the architect’s 3D model, to make sure that the design allowed enough service voids.
Minimising water useage
The house has access to a water borehole, while greywater recycling serves WCs and laundry appliances. Rainwater tanks were specified for rainwater recovery to serve WCs, irrigation, etc.
Renewables
A large solar PV array on the roof is combined with battery storage, with the aim of using as much energy generated by the PVs on site and achieving Passivhaus Plus certification.
- PV array: ~35kWp in total
- Batteries: ~40kWh in total
Wastewater heat recovery systems
All first floor showers in the home have WWHR (waste water heat recovery systems) to recover heat from shower water.
Integrating building services with smart technology
The house uses a Building Management System (BMS) to control heating, cooling, domestic hot water, ventilation, lighting and security. Greengauge needed to ensure that the controls for heating, cooling and ventilation integrated well within the smart technology controls. As well as working closely with project architects, Greengauge needed to coordinate its building services design with the project’s Audiovisual and Automations team (Arcadia Systems).
