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  • What Impact Did The Homeworld Exhibition of 1981 Have? (Home World, Milton Keynes)

    What Impact Did The Homeworld Exhibition of 1981 Have? (Home World, Milton Keynes)

    On a recent podcast I mentioned that I had discovered the Homeworld exhibition of 1981. I did stumble into this. I thought I was going to visit a house that was built in the 1980s that had now been retrofitted to high energy efficiency. Instead I was checking out an original eco home which was part of the Homeworld exhibition. For me, this was fascinating: it was a tool to travel back in time, get a snapshot of what was going on and then return to the present, over 30 years later, for analysis.

    When I recorded the podcast I thought I might be able to link to material that’s already been written about Homeworld, but of course the event pre-dates the Internet so there is very little available online. That’s why I paid a visit to the Milton Keynes Discovery Centre to open their files and have a few more facts at hand.

     

     

    Milton Keynes – a new town

    To give you a quick overview, Milton Keynes is one of England’s new towns that came about as a way to address housing shortages in London in the 1960s. Designated on an area 89km2, it brought together existing towns and villages within its boundary and had a target population of 250,000 (which is roughly the size of the borough today). A lot of the initial development was publicly-funded and so one of the aims of the Homeworld exhibition was to establish Milton Keynes as the perfect place for private sector investment. In this respect the Milton Keynes Development Corporation, responsible for the vision and execution of the new city, considered the exhibition to be a success. It opened in a wave of publicity and was visited by 140,000 people in May 1981 and many more in the subsequent months.

     

    A Showcase of Innovation

    Here is how it was billed to the public leading up to the event:

    HOMEWORLD brings the best and latest ideas for houses together for the first time in an exhibition village of full-scale homes. There are over thirty-five houses from twenty major developers from a variety of countries – Britain, Canada, Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand.

    HOMEWORLD is your opportunity to see the latest developments in housing from international designers, architects and builders. Among the many innovations are homes with new shapes and styles; ideas to save energy (and money!); homes that can be built quickly; and homes that reduce maintenance costs.

    There are low-cost starter homes for the first-time buyer, homes with sophisticated energy recovery systems, homes that arrive in containers and are erected in two or three days, homes that are pyramid or roof-shaped, homes made of wood and glass, homes using solar energy and homes from Denmark, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand.

    The Developers’ Brief

    The companies that took part were invited to build houses which ‘contain innovative features, either experimental or not yet in widespread use within the industry, which could become common features in the next decade. Innovations in design, construction, materials and equipment‘ were anticipated.

     

    Three Houses Which Made Their Mark

    1. Ideal Home Solar House

    Radical in its look as well as its performance, a triple glazed conservatory on the south side acts as a solar trap while the garage and porch on the north side act as a thermal buffer (preventing heat loss through the exterior). All its main rooms face south. The kitchen, dining and living areas have a quarry tiled floor which collects heat during the day, preventing overheating, and then gives off that heat in the early evening as the room temperature falls. There is also a chemical heat store and solar panel array.

    Designed by: Dominic Michaelis Associates

    Built by: Abbey Homesteads

     

    2. Money Programme Future Home 2000

    There was no doubt a lot of publicity surrounding this house due to its connection with the BBC’s Money Programme, but it was not without innovations. This house harnesses the sun with passive solar gain from the special double glazing and conservatory, and also an active solar gain from the panels on the roof. Three different heating systems were tested. The Totem – total energy module – was an adapted car engine that became a propane gas-fuelled generator, able to supply enough energy for around 10 houses. The timber frame design made this house quick and easy to erect.

    Designed by: Energy Conscious Design

    Built by: Superhomes

     

    3. The Greenwood (Pyramid) 

    Distinct by its pyramid shape, this added to its ‘flexibility’ (according to the literature!). It had a central spiral staircase and gained additional space from a basement. This house made use of high levels of insulation and passive solar gain with its south-facing double glazing and conservatory. It also had a ventilation system.

    Designed by: Wigley Fox

    Built by: Greenwood Homes

     

    Why do we remember these houses?

    I’m imagining these houses are significant because they did foresee the way things were going. There were energy issues in the 1970s and currently we face similar problems. It showed that energy efficiency was a logical path. Most of the 36 houses had very good levels of insulation. In fact, after the exhibition had closed these houses were put on the market and most people considered them a good buy because they knew they were buying something that was built well. A lot of modern housing developments in the UK are perceived to have poor insulation or limited design. Interestingly these houses had our best interests at heart – it would be nice to think that all housing could do that!

    The ideas that have become more established include:

    • Solar panels
    • Prefabricated homes
    • Double glazing
    • Timber frames
    • Heat pumps
    • Heat exchangers

     

    Not a Radical Change But a Step Forward

    In conclusion, this exhibition did have an impact but perhaps not the radical shake-up that could have followed. These buildings illustrated how to save energy and it was not unrealistic of the exhibition organisers to envisage some of these features becoming commonplace within ten years. However, it’s taken much longer and even now building regulations are way off the pace.

    Even if the regulations didn’t enforce tougher requirements on the building’s fabric, homeowners could have demanded it. Unfortunately I quite often hear from people working in the industry today that their clients don’t like spending money on insulation because they can’t see it. Far better to do the minimum and then install a better kitchen!

    Could we also blame the volume house builders? In the UK they account for a large proportion of the market. They could be driving forward these changes, as they seemed to be doing at this exhibition, but all too often change costs money and perhaps any hit on profits put the brakes on such advances.

    Finally, I never underestimate the impact of aesthetics. The three buildings featured above are hardly sexy, although living in a pyramid would be pretty cool! British tastes are still very traditional and I wonder whether these innovative designs masked the energy efficient approach that any building could have.

  • HPH007 : A Client’s Perspective of Building an Eco House – with Tahir Sharif

    HPH007 : A Client’s Perspective of Building an Eco House – with Tahir Sharif

    Tahir Sharif talks about how he built up his knowledge in order to commission an energy efficient home, while Ben discovers some great thinking from the Home World Exhibition of 1981.

     

    Interview with Tahir Sharif

    Tahir explains that his build has taken nearly 7 years. He started the process in 2005 and, although a lot has changed along the way, he and his family have achieved their objectives. They have ended up with something that is beautiful, works for their family and has little in the way of heating or lighting requirement.

     

    About The Project

    Tahir’s plot had a farmhouse building on it which was in a very poor state of repair. Situated at the lowest point of the land and right by a stream, it was riddled with damp. It did not make economic sense to invest in this building to try and make it better, so the new house would be further up the hill while the existing one would be demolished. The new house needed to meet their needs as a family but also be something that would still feel comfortable when the kids had grown up and left. They also wanted a property that they would be able to afford to run, even in their 60s and 70s.

     

    A Passivhaus Approach Made Sense

    Although the house was not certified to the Passivhaus standard, Tahir embraced the methodology. He says Nick Grant from the AECB was a big influence on the project and advised Tahir to invest as much money as possible in the fabric of the building rather than buying kit or investing in renewables. By doing this he would be mitigating his energy usage in the first place.

     

    ‘The Code For Sustainable Homes’ Did Not Recognise a Fabric First Approach

    Despite being a very energy efficient home – far above building regulations – Tahir found it difficult to meet Level 4 of The Code For Sustainable Homes. This is because the Code awards points according to the eco features of the house and thus you are penalised if you don’t buy kit. Tahir had to install bat boxes and bird boxes in order to reach Level 4, which he describes as insane.

     

    The Government and Industry Not Helping The Consumer

    Tahir stresses the importance of understanding for yourself how a building can perform. This is because the Government’s Code does not provide the right incentives and industry wants to sell you the gadgets. Although Tahir counts himself as lucky for finding the best approach he also reiterates how he talked to a lot of different people before he made any decisions.

     

    Choosing an Architect

    Tahir says he interviewed four different architects but went with a recommendation of Jon Broome Architects, a practice with low-impact building experience. Tahir says it was very important to him that he picked someone who he felt comfortable working with for 2 – 3 years. He liked the way that Jon didn’t impose anything on him, compared to other eco people he had met who were dogmatic in their approach. He says another great aspect of working with Jon was that he was always accessible as issues arose.

     

    Take Every Opportunity to Build up Your Knowledge

    The best way of learning is to visit other projects similar to yours. Tahir also visited suppliers, went to Eco Build every year and used websites such as The Green Building Forum and the AECB. He read countless books on the subject and now has a shelf full of them!

     

    The UK Planning System is Adversarial

    Tahir tells a story of how a friend in Switzerland started a house build in 2005 and finished in 2006. His friend went to the planning office, was told the parameters and environmental performance to meet, the plans were drawn up and then were stamped. In contrast the UK system wants you to put in the plans first before they knock them back. Time and money can quickly disappear. In Tahir’s case he was very thorough with the dialogue to make sure that all the issues were ironed out and that the plans stood a good chance of being accepted. However, when the plans were finally submitted after nearly two years, a completely different officer handled the application with a completely different viewpoint! He says he was gutted when it was turned down.

     

    ‘A Pattern Language’ by Christopher Alexander

    This is a book that really helped Tahir understand how people interact with spaces. He used it to inform his floor plan.

     

    Tahir’s Top Three Tips For Tackling a Custom Build Project

    1. Learn as much as you can about building a house and about how you want to live in that house. Whatever kind of house you build, it has to be a working functional home first before it’s eco, mud brick or whatever else it is.
    2. Assemble a team that you really believe in. Realise that you will be working with this team for a number of years, so if you have any doubts at the back of your mind, don’t hire that individual or company.
    3. Stay determined. You will have challenges of one form or another, so expect them and try keep calm and carry on.

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Tahir Sharif.

     

    Homeworld (Home World) Exhibition – 1981

    Ben Adam-Smith explains how he went to Milton Keynes to see an original eco home from 1981, which formed part of an exhibition looking at how we would be living in the future. The house had taken a fabric first approach! It had the high levels of insulation, the airtightness, the ventilation, etc. In other words this was a blueprint of a direction we could have taken back then. Thirty years on and it is still a minority of houses that have embraced this building method. Are we finally getting somewhere?

    Read this more detailed article that Ben has researched about the Homeworld exhibition.

     

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