Year
2023-2024Duration
1 year 4 monthsCost
£1.05MLocation
United KingdomProject achievements
Used engineering skill
Developed several solutions to retrofit 21st century insulation and airtightness to a 19th structure
Environment benefitted
Harnessing renewable energy, as Sir George Barclay Bruce had envisaged
Conservation
Bringing a new life to this former 1875 Presbyterian church
Transform a Victorian church into a Passivhaus-certified luxury holiday rental
Warksburn Old Church is the world’s first conversion of a former church to create a home which meets the exceptionally demanding Passivhaus standard for energy efficiency, insulation and airtightness.
Now a luxury holiday rental, it was explicitly designed to demonstrate the ‘art of the possible’.
It seeks to enable guests to experience how radical energy efficiency can be achieved in a building which also delivers the highest levels of luxury, comfort and interior design.
It's located in Wark-on-Tyne, close to Hadrian's Wall in rural Northumberland.
The project was commissioned by Dr Anne and Dr Alan James, who bought the church after it became redundant on 31 December 2019.
Their client brief, to locally based Insight Architectural Design and Passivhaus experts Ecospheric, was that Warksburn Old Church should be a physical embodiment of sustainability and innovation.
They wanted it to be a sensitive updating of a heritage structure, built in 1875, at the peak of the Age of Coal, and make it fit for purpose in the Age of Net Zero.
That combination has created a stunning living space in an ultra-low energy building.
Did you know …
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The sub-floor contains 12 tonnes of foam glass aggregate (Geocell), compacted 30% and laid under two pours of limecrete. Made from recycled glass, Geocell is structurally robust, non-capillary and non-combustible.
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The 19th century stained-glass rose is encased behind a bespoke, airtight and ultra-insulated circular triple glazed inner window, believed to be the only Passivhaus-compliant one in the world.
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There are nine Internet of Things (IoT) systems in the building, controlling everything from solar production, battery storage and energy demand reduction, to digital door access and mood lighting.
Embracing the technologies of net zero
It also powerfully brings to life the story of the visionary engineer who funded the building’s construction in the 19th century. And, who remarkably foresaw the 21st century’s sustainable energy technologies.
That eminent Victorian was Sir George Barclay Bruce (1821 - 1908).
Sir George started his engineering career as an apprentice to no less a figure than Robert Stephenson, whose ‘Rocket’ locomotive ignited the Industrial Revolution.
Following in Stephenson’s footsteps, Sir George became a preeminent railway engineer and himself also served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
On 8 November 1887, Sir George delivered his ICE Presidential Address, in which he made the world’s first ever documented reference to the sustainable generation and storage of electricity.
He painted an uncannily accurate and prophetic picture of the key technologies of net zero:
Electricity is to us now light, heat, and power. Our streets and beacons shine with it, it signs and speaks for us around the world, across the desert, and beneath the ocean.
When we shall have learnt the way of storing up in a more efficient and financially successful manner, the unemployed forces of nature such as the winds and streams and tides, which can be so readily converted into electrical energy at trifling cost, then will it become a factor in the world's life compared with which the present is as nothing.
Sir George Barclay Bruce
Opening to guests on 24 September 2024, Warksburn Old Church now brings Sir George’s vision to life.
His building has been updated with solar, batteries and digital control, to generate, store, and minimise consumption of electricity.
How was the project built?
Wark-based lead contractor David Reed (DJR Builders) had the difficult task of creating a super-insulated and airtight home.
He had to overcome many complex interfaces between a new internal timber framed structure and the original stone and slate Victorian building.
Sir George’s wife and daughter are also commemorated in two magnificent stained-glass windows. On 17 April 2024, these works of art were encased behind enormous triple glazed windows, to complete the Passivhaus airtightness seal.
David’s painstaking attention to detail enabled the astonishing result of 0.19 air changes per hour (ACH) on 27 August 2024, when the final airtightness test was conducted.
That’s roughly 50 to 75 times better ACH than typical legacy UK housing stock.
It far exceeds the Passivhaus target of 1.0 ACH for retrofit projects, and even beats the new build Passivhaus requirement of 0.6 ACH.
What engineering skills were used in the project?
- Passivhaus Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) modelling of energy demand, thermal insulation and airtightness was tightly integrated into the project process, driving and guiding architecture, engineering and construction.
- Whole-system energy modelling was conducted to enable the client to specify the active and passive elements of the building’s energy system holistically.
- Structural engineering appraisal was needed for the timber frame that made the internal Passivhaus structure. Solutions to minimise insulation gaps where the 2024 and 1875 structures interacted were developed in situ as challenges presented themselves.
- As a first-in-world project, the lead contractor developed, tested and deployed several pragmatic solutions to retrofit 21st century insulation and airtightness to a 19th structure.
- 3D photo and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) scanning was used to record locations of hidden structural elements and services.
- Project management was done by the client.
Project milestones
27 May 1875 - Church formally opened.
19 December 2019 - Church closes.
24 May 2023 - Passivhaus rebuild programme commences.
17 April 2024 - Airtight internal structure completed as the stained-glass windows are sealed behind Passivhaus triple glazing.
27 August 2024 - Final airtightness test result of 0.19 ACH.
19 September 2024 - Passivhaus certification issued.
24 September 2024 - Warksburn Old Church opens for guests.
People who made it happen
- Client – project conception, direction and management: Dr Anne James and Dr Alan James
- Architect: Insight Architectural Design
- Passivhaus and building services designers: Ecospheric
- Passivhaus certification: ZE Passivhaus Services
- Lead contractor: David Reed, DJR Builders
- View a full list of all suppliers and tradespeople, along with the specialist materials and equipment used
Sources
- Project, building, and guest information
- 3D walkthrough
- Article on the historical connection to Sir George Barclay Bruce, ICE President 1887 - 89, and his vision of renewable generation and storage of electricity
- The Passivhaus conversion at Warksburn Old Church will be featured in an episode of the ‘Derelict Rescue’ series, which will be broadcast on Monday 21 October 2024 at 9pm. It will be available to stream on the Discovery+ platform once the programme has been broadcast.
All project images © Warksburn Old Church, used with permission.
