The designers behind this proposal took Georgian housing typology and urban design approaches as their inspiration to create a new housetype that is adaptable and flexible. The housetype includes the designers’ innovative co-Pod housing concept.

The co-Pod is in fact a range of serviced modules containing all the essential service elements required for sustainable modern housing. Within a single offsite-manufactured unit, the units provide the following: kitchen, bath, shower, staircase, storage, power, lighting, ventilation, heating, heat recovery and communications. The positioning of the pods means that mechanical and electrical installation on site is virtually eliminated.

The pods can be lifted in to position as the construction proceeds or after the envelope has been completed, via the large openings at the front of the house. This allows the pods to be removed, recycled and replaced at any time in the future.

The co-Pod gives the design its flexibility, allowing housetypes to be configured as detached, semi-detached or terraced houses, or even apartment blocks, to suit almost any site or housing mix. Streets can be laid out in a terraces and mews configuration to provide a balanced density and range of urban forms. Roads are shared surfaces where pedestrians and cars can both be accommodated.

The basic house envelope is manufactured from timber structural insulated panels (SIPs), which are sustainable, adaptable and fast to construct. Each floor level comes as complete panels and the roof comes as a single unit. External walls have a U-value of 0.12W/m2K, windows have a U-value of 0.8 W/m2K and the design airtightness is 2.7. Waste storage is located to the front of the house and water is collected on the rear upper terrace for re-use.

The covered parking area to the front of the house and the internal double height space can be filled in to create additional living accommodation if needed. The house can be further adapted by changing the ground floor and first floor pods to create a one-bedroom apartment at ground level and a three-bedroom maisonette above.

The combination of SIP panel construction and co-Pods gives a fast -track turn-key solution, and the design can be engineered to achieve a Code for Sustainable Homes rating up to level 5.

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