WholeHouse in action

It’s not all glitz and glamour when you’re a Part L consultant. 😉

Last week, I dusted off the hard hat to see a WholeHouse development taking shape in Somerset.

The concept of WholeHouse has been bubbling away for a few years, so it’s great to see it’s being successfully applied to a real construction site – in this case, by Galion.

 🏠 The specification of the houses, and the way the building site operates, are quite conventional. These buildings are masonry cavities with double glazing, air source heat pumps and PV.

All the clever stuff happens pre-construction. 💻

Whole House starts as six core dwelling designs on their website. Housebuilders can select designs and customise the style. They instantly get an itemised cost of every material, from total number of roof tiles down to the screws for the door handles.

Everything can be bought as a single order with a couple of clicks, and all the detailed drawings, heating designs and kitchen layouts are already there, available to download.

From my side, I’ve been making sure the house designs and their many variants meet Part L requirements.

Big thanks to WholeHouse for inviting me, and to Galion for their hospitality on site.

Standard construction site selfie

This site is pre-Future Homes Standard, but still includes air source heat pumps and PV panels on all plots to ensure A rated EPCs throughout.

Instead of conventional masonry blocks, this site uses vertical block panels. Same thermal performance, but quicker to install with less mortar required.

A 3D printed scale model of the site in Somerset