The Underground House
Cumbria’s First Earth-Sheltered House
The Design
The general layout of the site showing the house at the top left, the vet workspace in the bottom left corner, and the curved driveway.
Most of the house is underground, so the boundaries are shown with a dotted line. Below this are the conservatory area and a patio, with a path leading down to the vet space.
The vet space subsequently became rectangular in shape and both it and the driveway were moved to the left about two metres.
This is a recent drawing showing the front of the house.
The front door is on the left, surrounded by stonework. Above this is a roofed area, which we plan to fit with photovoltaic tiles, so that we can generate a small amount of electricity. When this is not needed in the house, it can be sold to the local electricity generator.
Beneath the roof is the ventilation system that keeps the air in the house constantly refreshed - it transfers around 90% of the heat from stale air to the fresh, incoming air. The water heating system is also here - this uses heat from the conservatory to warm the water in a larger than normal, and highly insulated tank.
A cross-section of the house showing the relationship between this and the original ground profile.
A photograph of the model made by John Bodger, the architect.
This shows the house set into the hillside, with the spiral staircase and balcony visible in the conservatory area.
