Wunderhaus Base Model

Overview

As showcased on Good Morning TV, our client seeks and identifies development opportunities which combine special locations and buildings with the potential to create outstanding spaces. Through innovative designs and layouts, and by using immaculate materials and finishes they produce properties of long lasting quality and timeless architectural style. Intelligent planning, specification and with highly energy efficient housing providing excellent value in a very competitive market place.

Mason Clark Associates (MCA) were instructed by Red Button Development Ltd to produce Structural Design Calculations for their Wunderhaus Base Model.

Tasks/Challenges

The structural design calculations by Mason Clark Associates, included verifying the proposed structural layout of the building and provide initial comments and recommendations where structural elements were deemed to be required. This was carried out prior to undertaking detailed structural design.

One of our challenges was that the project was non-site specific and was constructed at different locations in the country. We had to base our calculations on worst possible case for wind and snow loads within England and the foundations were designed with the ground assumed to be suitable for shallow strip foundations and with an assumed ground bearing capacity.

Activity

MCA carried out structural design calculations for Building Regulation Approval for the following:-

• Design of internal steelwork to support the floor structure and provide lateral stability to allow moveable internal partitions
• Recheck eaves glulam beam for alternative spans
• Racking resistance/stability checks on steelwork and panels
• Foundation checks for the new steel column reactions Design of major steelwork/glulam/timber connections.
• Design of major steel-work/glulam/timber connections.

Results

Wunderhaus has been deemed arguably the best-performing domestic building on the market; it easily meets the Government’s legislative 80% carbon reduction target for the building industry, while its Passivhaus standard ensures peerless thermal performance so efficient that it can feed energy back to the grid.

The Times newspaper wrote an article naming this development “House of the Week” as Britain’s first off-the-shelf eco-house.