Historic townhouse renovation to meet Passive House standards to reduce carbon footprint.

One of six brick houses on a tree lined street built in 1881 and designed in the Neo-Grec style, the townhouse is two stories high in addition to the garden level. The house is characterized by rich red clay face-brick, stylized classical details, angular forms, and incised detailing formed by mechanical stone cutting. The top of the building is decorated with a pronounced wood and sheet metal cornice resting on four ornamental brackets.

The house will be designed to Passive House standards, making it a highly insulated and low energy-consuming building. This requires a complete gut-renovation of the existing interior in order to insulate and seal the building. While the front facade remains intact, the rear will see a two-story addition, a new rooftop addition set back from street view, including a partial excavation of the existing cellar.

Finding a balance between old and new elements has been the focus of this project. The house was divided into three apartments leaving a limited amount of original features. Whilst restoring it back to a single occupancy home we will be salvaging historical details where possible, replicating elsewhere with authentic materials and marrying these with modern details sympathetic to the old.