Client: Carmarthenshire County Council/Gwalia Housing Group
Architects: PCKO Architects Ltd
Main contractors: Tycroes Group Ltd
Structural engineers: Ateb Consult

• 140mm stud timber frame
• Recycled cellulose insulation
• Certified timber cladding
• Timber and aluminium composite windows
  

This scheme, developed by Gwalia Housing Group within tight public subsidy constraints, keeps running costs low for tenants while maintaining an environmentally sustainable approach.

Occupying disused industrial land, and with good transport links, it includes a Day Centre and 38 self-contained flats in two blocks linked by the main communal area, a 'glass garden' combining entrance hall, focal meeting point and internal garden. The building fabric consists of high performance timber frame, breathing wall construction, with recycled cellulose insulation, and durable, zero-maintenance external timber cladding. Windows and doors are low maintenance aluminium and timber composites with low-emissivity, argon-filled double-glazed units.

Heating and hot water come from a twin bio-mass boiler community heating system, while solar panels contribute 60-70% of the scheme's average hot water requirements year-round, so that residents spend just £5.44 per week for all their heating and hot water.

The glass garden provides a passive solar collector, with preheated air distributed throughout communal areas as background heating. Photo-voltaics power ventilation systems, while the lighting design features energy-efficient light fittings, responsive controls and the extensive use of roof lights and sun pipes.

• Western Mail Property Awards 2005, winner in Best Residential Development category and Innovation category
• RSAW Welsh Housing Design Awards 2004, award winner
• National Eisteddfod of Wales 2004, Architecture in Wales Exhibition, runner-up for Gold Medal Award
• Civic Trust Awards 2005, awarded a mention.