Principles of sustainability must be intimate within the considerations of the architecture. Cherepovets is located in the northern part of the great eastern European plain. The climate is ‘continental', with little maritime influence, characterised by high diurnal and seasonal temperature ranges, and exposure to arctic winds. Winters are long, and summers are short.

A building in this environment must deal with cold - yet be flexible enough to manage days of warmth. This building must connect on order to engage the users.

The building is not conceived as a isolated object, it will be repeated tens of times and should through this repetition enable both a handsome built environment and a place for living.

Outlook from buildings is toward the grass berm of the adjacent homes; people and families will perceive to be in a landscape - privacies will be magnified and the character of this lakeside site will be magnificently retained. Sustainability is about respect - if through our architecture we can maintain the origins of place then respect is a consequence.

The buildings sit low to the ground - this way they compliment the flow of the land; they allow the users direct associations with the ground plane - they manage the ground façade environmentally and provide easy access.

The home is conceived to optimise the available energy and minimise waste. All design elements are purpose driven, form is a direct consequence of environmental management.

Steel has been assimilated into the construct of the building only where strictly appropriate. Wall/roof panels are steel skins for tensile strength. Internal thermal wall is steel for radiant and conductive qualities. Steel floor provides most effective distribution of radiant heat. Steel piles allow for walls to be of earth - insulated and water tight. The choice of steel for the applications is a function of the buildings conceptual requirements.

With the exception of the wall/roof panels there has been a restraint - thermostatic controls being the extent of electronic management - sustainability should not involve maintenance.

Concrete sub floors excepted, the house is designed to be recyclable. Panels can be disassembled and internal structure is primarily prefabricated to be used in different configurations throughout the development.

It is intended that interior fitouts will be cardboard; 100% recyclable, environmentally sustainable, excellent acoustic and thermal properties and aesthetically warm.

We were keen to create a connection with garden/courtyard/land. Often it is through this association that people develop a respect and thus care for their surrounds - our building has the ability to ‘operate' within the environment, thus users will become more attached socially.

It was a deliberate choice to create a landscape scheme not a building scheme. The growing outcome of our proposal will be parklands - we would engage responsibly the opportunity to further site plan our thoughts - minimising the intrusions of car and maximising the opportunity to make a garden.

The design approach is passive - we make no excuses for such an attitude - it minimises energy consumption and best involves people in the process of living. This is a hands on building and whilst not demanding will require attention for optimum performance.

There is a significant component of prefabrication within our scheme. This will no doubt develop cost efficiencies but also allows for a social equality - as our plans indicate variations are easy and adaptable and a two storey outcome is possible but not encouraged. This building stands as a model of restraint and function.

It could be argued that living environment is the single most influential source of sustainability if ‘environment' is not one of respect and joy then is without sustainability. This building deliberately manages light such that it makes a fundamental contribution to the ‘life' of the users. Both source and effect have been considered to best advantage the changing environment surrounds.

Water is viewed as a primary resource - caught off the wintergarden walls and stored within the pool system on this level - overflow and other caught water would be directed to underground tanks integrated into the foundations of the building.

Gravity fed water would be used to flush toilets whilst a system of quality control would ensure a more secure body of water be employed for other wet area activities.

Stored tank water would water gardens, top up water heating system and provide back up for all the supply systems. Water is unquestionably our most valuable resource any scheme refined through this submission would integrate that respect accordingly.

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