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Clay Field
sustainable homes
33
Clay Field is an exciting exemplar of the future of affordable
housing. It provides 26 attractive and comfortable homes
for local people on previously under utilised land.
The construction methods used achieved a carbon neutral
impact on the environment and the homes have attained
an Eco-Homes ‘excellent’ rating.
They are believed to be as close to zero carbon as any
multi-unit residential project within the UK and a major
step on the road to the Government’s 2016 Code for
Sustainable Homes targets. In addition, the whole
development has been designed to add value to the
local community. All the 26 homes are for local people
with total scheme costs of £4.67m, construction costs
of £3.9m with a social housing grant of £630k and
Low Carbon Building Trust Grant of £100k.
This ground breaking scheme has already attracted
much interest and acclaim. In 2007 it was awarded
a Housing Design Award by RIBA and has been
shortlisted as a finalist for Inside Housing’s
Sustainable Housing Award in the large social housing
project category.
A wide range of partners has contributed to the
development of this project. Most importantly this has
included local residents, some of whom have been
involved since its inception and who are now enjoying
a different way of living in the newly built homes.
Orwell Housing Association’s aim was to build
attractive homes which were good to live in and
which met the Eco-Homes’ highest rating. Orwell was
also keen to ensure that the development added
value to the local community and that local people
were involved from the outset. To this end a design
competition was organised in partnership with Suffolk
Preservation Society, who shared our aspirations on
setting an exemplar standard for design.
Working together, a brief was produced which
demanded a truly high quality, low carbon scheme.
The involvement of Elmswell Parish Council and
Mid Suffolk District Council, who owned the land,
was also essential to ensure that local people could
participate. A public consultation exercise helped
choose the design from over 100 entries received from
as far afield as the United States and Europe.
Wendy Evans
Hendrick
Director of
Development &
Property Services
Orwell Housing
Association
T: 01473 228602
Steven Reason
Seamans Building
T: 01359 230430
E: sreason@
seamans.co.uk
A view of Clay Field showing the innovative design of the estate

Clay Field sustainable homes 35
maintenance wildflower meadow, a Suffolk-apple
orchard, allotments with composting facilities and a
The grant funded Biomass community boiler
Riches Hawley Mikhail’s design has been described as
‘more eco-minimalism than eco-housing’ because there
are no solar panels or wind turbines extruding from the
houses. Instead, the three-house terraces are orientated
north-south to maximise the heat of the sun and
carefully positioned to achieve the best possible light,
privacy and views onto open space. The homes are low
in height, in keeping with the surrounding buildings, and
are designed to minimise overshadowing, enabling the
low winter sun to reach all properties.
Internally the layout maximises space, light and through
ventilation. An open stairwell runs from the kitchen to
the roof lights allowing a through flow of air and natural
ventilation in Summer. Bright usable spaces in the
stairwells and high ceilings on the top floor under the
unusual roof form give an added feeling of space.
‘kick around’ area. Car parking is provided under trees
near each group of houses and curved walls define
the private gardens, giving a sense of enclosure.
Wherever possible, natural materials with low carbon
footprints have been incorporated into the build.
The homes are of a timber-frame construction using
sustainable timbers filled with Hemcrete, a mix of hemp
and lime, sprayed onto the frames to provide mass,
rigidity and insulation to the walls. This innovative
insulant material has the huge advantage of being not
carbon neutral but carbon negative as it locks in CO 2 .
Cedar boarding and natural lime renders were used
to finish the exterior walls. Garden walls were built
from unfired earth and lime blocks. Cedar shingles
were used to cover the roofs and insulation provided
by hemp/linen insulation batts.
Other materials employed to minimise the
environmental impact of the project included ‘GGBS’
recycled aggregate in foundations. External stores
and the boiler house have flat green roofs using
Sedum planting over a specialist substrate.
Internally, kitchen units and other finishes were
from suppliers who provided recycled or sustainably
sourced materials. Site waste was minimised with the
use of pre-fabricated timber frames and top soil was
stored and redistributed across the site.
“An open stairwell
runs from the kitchen
to the roof lights
allowing a through
flow of air and
natural ventilation in
Summer.”
A heat recovery system removes 80% of heat from
outgoing air and uses it to heat incoming air,
minimising the need for additional heating. Hot water
and additional heating are supplied via a Biomass
community boiler, fuelled by locally sourced wood
pellets. Grant funding for this was obtained from the
Low Carbon Building Trust. Rainwater is recycled to
flush toilets and for outside taps.
An important aspect of the design is the amount
of communal green space totalling half the site.
There are four distinct areas that can be used by
both the residents and the local community - a low
Partner credits:
Developer - Orwell Housing Association
Main contractor - O. Seaman & Sons Ltd.
Architects - Riches Hawley Mikhail
Services engineers - Buro-Happold
Structural engineers - BTA Structural Design Ltd.
Landscape architect - J & L Gibbons LLP
Civil engineers - Cameron Wilson Scott Taylor
Surveyors - Hyams quantity
Elmswell Parish Council
Mid Suffolk District Council
Suffolk Preservation Society
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