White Cottages is a small development on an exciting greenfield site. The project comprises three low energy homes – a three-bed detached house and a pair of three-bed semi-detached houses, each with their own private garden.

The site is outside the development limits defined for Start Hill but lies immediately adjacent to the boundary on the south side of the road. As a result, the site is officially ‘in the countryside’ and is bound by the restrictive development rules associated with building in rural areas. The fact that the project has gained planning permission under these circumstances makes it a ground-breaking project for the area.

As it is a greenfield site, there are no incoming services. We are literally starting from scratch, including making applications to Thames Water and the electricity board.  But this also presents exciting opportunities to enhance and compliment the local character. With White Cottages, we hope to show that it is possible to create high quality, low energy design-focused homes that meet current planning policy rules and building regulations. And to do all this on a greenfield site.

Environmental Updates:

• Air source heat pumps
• Triple glazing
• Insulated using stone wool insulation products from Rockwool.
• Incorporating an acoustic solution to improve low frequency sound control performance using a product regenerated from landfill. Pliteq isolates drywall from the roof and wall structures and reduces the assembly weight.
• EV charging points for each house