An award-winning home sets new standards for sustainable design amid the genteel surroundings of a Victorian spa town

Think of a British city at the cutting edge of sustainable design and, chances are, Harrogate won’t be at the top of your list. But thanks to the determination of Damian Lawrance, his 1 Zero 4 residential project is now an exemplary combination of the best in contemporary design and architecture, further enhanced by a suite of environmentally friendly features.

1 Zero 4 received a Pro-Yorkshire RICS award in May, just as the house was completed. It took a whole year to get the design through the Harrogate planning department (compared with the usual 16 weeks) but once that hurdle was cleared, Lawrance and his team completed the project in 18 months.

‘Eyebrows were raised when the local community found out what we had in mind,’ Lawrance confesses. ‘And despite some initial objections, the council made a courageous decision.’ Lawrance’s company, LaRock Construction, was the lead contractor and responsible for both design and build. Before he launched his own company, Lawrance had worked for more than a decade as a designer and developer of residential projects. A wide range of local Yorkshire contractors worked alongside the LaRock team to realise the project’s detailed specification, both in terms of technology and the architectural and interior detailing.

‘We wanted to create a house that can assist your life without being gimmicky,’ insists Lawrance, who specified an AMX system for the four floors of the five bedroom house. As well as controlling the home technology via AMX wall panels (and also through an iPad 2), the system can deliver data about the ‘green performance’ of the house in terms of energy consumption and conservation. Room sensors turn the lights on and off depending on whether they are occupied. The sensors also control the brightness in response to daylight levels, subtly boosting or reducing artificial light sources accordingly. And this can all be operated within the home or remotely when the residents are away.

Rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic panels, double air-sourced heat pump technology and ‘triple wrapped’ insulation are among the systems that helped the house reach Level 4 in the BREEAM environmental assessment code. The LaRock team also specified ‘brise-soleil’ window shades for the exterior of the house to give privacy and reduce glare inside, and used Planitherm 4 Seasons glass to keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer.

Lawrance claims 1 Zero 4 is more than future proof and it certainly is an impressive combination of contemporary architecture, careful detailing and clever technology. Now he has his team in place and an award under his belt, Lawrance hopes for more projects. ‘Our doors are open to people who get it,’ he says, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this house, initially greeted with scepticism, is the first of many to establish North Yorkshire on the eco-build map.

This article was first published in idfx Magazine.