Demonstrating the viability and growing acceptability

448 Pages·2007·28.69 MB·English

by  Jerry Harrall

Demonstrating the viability and growing
acceptability
of earth-sheltered buildings in the uk

Jeremy Martin Adrian Harrall Dip Arch RIBA
Chartered Architect

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

JULY 2007
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To the Team at SEArch,
heartfelt gratitude for their tireless application:
Laura, John and Robin
for their unflinching support;
Sandra
for her relentlessly harvesting of the data;
James
the future of SEArch;
Julie
who has honoured us for 17 years with her loyalty and integrity.

I am deeply indebted to
Professor John Chilton
of Lincoln School of Architecture
for letting me through the gates of academe.
and to
Professor Brenda Vale
for upping the ante

my gratitude must also go to
Kevin Morel Rowlinson,
Peter Southgate,
and Jim Fitzpatrick
for making it all happen and digging deep
into the rivers of the past.
and to
Dr Arthur Quarmby
for providing the catalyst;
It goes also to
Peter Carpenter,
the Elder Statesman of UK Earth-Sheltering,
for being a constant and reliable source;
and to
David Woods
for unreserved generosity with his time and information.

my thanks are due also to
my Mother
for the use of her dining-table and pita bread;

to my children
Penelope, Royston, and Molly
for bringing joy and happiness to their father
during the ‘dark days’;

and to
KAY
my wife, Partner, Lover, and Friend
these past 30 years,
my one
Constant Star.

These acknowledgments would be incomplete without mention of the assistance of
Valentine Bolam,
whose editorial and literary exactions have touched almost every word of this document.

And they would be entirely incomplete without acknowledging
Holt Myers,
without whose unfailing faith, friendship and patronage
this document might never have seen the light of day.
Contents

abstract 1

chapter 1: introduction 2

chapter 2: an appraisal of the UK
earth sheltering movement
from 1972 – 2006

introduction 6
the Buildings 7
a brief history of the british
earth-sheltering association 13

case studies 42
literature review 58
summary 66
references 68

chapter 3: SEArch’s portfolio of earth-
sheltered commissions from
1997 to may 2007

Introduction 77

portfolio project i –
the long Sutton work life project 80

portfolio project ii –
Honingham earth sheltered social
housing scheme 126

portfolio project iii –
university of glamorgan 156

portfolio project iv –
jag-hol 161

portfolio project v –
the epic project 173

portfolio project vi –
holkham toilets 182

portfolio project vii –
samphire cottage 188
portfolio project viii –
CaNeBuZo 191

portfolio project xi –
barnsdale walled gardens 205

portfolio project x –
Colney pastures 210

portfolio project xi –
thornage eco-house 215

portfolio project xii –
boxford eco-house 221

portfolio project xiii –
the long Sutton social housing
scheme 227

chapter 3 summing up 237

chapter 4: discussion 238

chapter 5: conclusion and further
work 251

appendix 253

bibliography 308
abstract
Thesis demonstrating the viability and
growing acceptability of earth-sheltered
buildings in the UK

The Managing Director of Sustainable Ecological Architecture Ltd (SEArch), Jerry Harrall, Dip.
Arch. RIBA, began an evaluation of the viability of earth-sheltering in 1997. In the intervening
period between then and May 2007, SEArch has undertaken several earth-sheltered commissions
as part of this ongoing evaluation. During that period, the number of commissions received has
significantly increased and it has become apparent that there is a growing interest in earth-
sheltered design solutions in the UK. The development of earth-sheltering in the UK is
chronicled in this thesis as are its benchmark buildings and key exponents. The thesis also
presents the first compendium of known contemporary UK earth-sheltered buildings. SEArch’s
portfolio of thirteen earth-sheltered commissions is presented in detail. This body of information
is drawn together in a discussion in which the viability and growing acceptability of earth-
sheltering in the UK is asserted.

The main contributions to knowledge made by this thesis are:-

• A compendium of contemporary UK earth-sheltered buildings
complete as at December 2006;
• An appraisal of the UK earth-sheltering movement from 1997 to
2006;
• A detailed portfolio of thirteen earth-sheltered projects.

The principal conclusions drawn in this thesis are:-

• That earth-sheltered buildings are viable in the UK;
• That there is evidence of a growing acceptability of earth-sheltered
buildings in the UK;
• That earth-sheltered buildings can provide a commercially viable
commission base for an architectural practice.

1
Chapter 1: introduction

It is the intention of this thesis to demonstrate that earth-sheltered buildings are viable in the
UK and that they are increasingly acceptable. To put UK modern earth-sheltering in
perspective, the history and development of the UK earth-sheltered movement over the thirty
years since 1976 has been researched and compiled. Following on from this, an appraisal of
SEArch’s portfolio of earth-sheltered commissions from 1997 up to the present day is
undertaken. Sufficient material has been gathered to provide the basis for a discussion as to
whether earth-sheltered buildings are viable as well as increasingly acceptable in the UK.

What is meant by earth sheltering?
The expression earth-sheltering is interpreted by the author as being a generic term with the
general meaning: building design in which soil plays an integral part. This integration may occur
in a number of ways. By way of clarification, the author offers an extended definition as follows:-

Author’s definition of earth-sheltering
A building can be described as earth-sheltered if its external envelope is in contact with
a thermally significant volume of soil or substrate (where “thermally significant” means
making a functional contribution to the thermal effectiveness1 2of the building in
question.)

There may be said to be three forms of earth-sheltered building: -
• earth-covered
• earth-bunded
• subterranean

An earth-sheltered building may be designed to combine some or all of these forms.

An earth-covered building is one where the thermally effective element is placed solely
on the roof, but is more usually a continuation of the earth-bunding at the unexposed
elevations of the building.

An earth-bunded building is one where the thermally significant element insulates one
or more of the sheltered elevations of the building. The bunding can be partial or total.

A subterranean building is one where the thermally significant element insulates all
elevations of the building, leaving only the roof exposed; or, if the building is built into
an incline, it may be that the roof is covered and only one elevation is left exposed.

All the known earth-sheltered buildings in the UK have, as part of the research undertaken for this
thesis, been recorded for the first time in the Compendium of Contemporary UK Earth-Sheltered
Buildings, which constitutes Appendix Item 1.

2
Using the Compendium as a source, Chapter 2 chronicles the history and development of the earth-
sheltering movement in the UK. This chapter identifies the movement’s champions, identifies its
benchmark buildings, and goes on to show how these have influenced the growing number of
earth-sheltered buildings in the UK.

Chapter 3 undertakes a review of the expanding portfolio of earth-sheltered commissions for which
the architectural practice of SEArch Ltd is responsible. It shows how this body of work has
drawn on the architectural precedents highlighted in Chapter 2 and how each of SEArch’s projects
has informed the next.

Chapter 4 discusses the findings of the thesis and the implications for a field of study that might be
termed environmentally responsible earth-sheltering.

Chapter 5 concludes the thesis and provides some recommendations for further work.

3
references

1 Baggs, S.A. Baggs, J.C. Baggs, D.W. 1991. Australian Earth Covered Building. New South
Wales University Press. P25.

2 Baggs. S.A. 1981. Effects of vegetation upon earth-cooling potential. University New South
Wales. PP88 & 89.
4
chapter 2

an appraisal of the uk earth-sheltering
movement from 1972 to 2006
5

2.00 Introduction 6

2.01 the buildings 7

2.01.1 1972-1975: underhill 7
2.01.2 1975 -1983: formative years 10

2.02 a brief history of the british earth-sheltering
association 13

2.02.1 ‘ NEW ‘ BESA 20
2.02.2 ‘ NEW ’ BESA : THE EARLY YEARS: RECESSION 22

2.03 case studies 42

2.03.1 THE CAER LLAN BERM HOUSE, FIELD STUDIES
AND CONFERENCE CENTRE 42
2.03.2 THE HOCKERTON HOUSING PROJECT 53

2.04 literature review 58

2.04.1 informed exogenous influences 60
2.04.2 uk literature 60

2.05 summary 66

references 68

5
2.00 introduction
In order to make an appraisal of the UK earth-sheltering movement, it has been necessary to assemble a
detailed narrative of its development, which has not been done before. And, since the movement would
be nothing without its buildings, in order to tell the story it has been necessary to compile a catalogue
of known contemporary UK earth-sheltered projects [See Appendix item 1], something which has also not been
done before.

What emerges from this exercise are recognisable trends. Numbers of earth-sheltered buildings have
continued to increase [See Fig 1] over the thirty-four year history of the movement and certain types of
earth-sheltered building emerge as favoured above others. Key buildings in the development of the
movement are identified as landmarks in its evolution.

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coCnsotnrsutcrtuecdte eda Echa cyhe aYre bare tFwroeemn 11997755 Taon d20 e0n6d 2006
d
cte KEY DATES: -
ered nstru 10 11998990 1Nsetw A GEdMitor Building
structed Earth-Shelt Sheltered Buildings coBuildings 3456789 1 11 1 1 99999 99999 34567 S41 3 2CCCCtsrOhndoooot dD nnnnNNN ffff NaaeeeeIaTttrrrratiieeeei!ootoinnnnnnonccccaanaeeeellal l (old) B.E.S.A 'new' B.E.S.A
No. Of Con ber of Earth- 0121975 D19a8w3n 1> 9o8f 0BESA 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
m
u K E Y D A T E S
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Year

An architectural movement could not, especially nowadays, occur without a society of like-minded
individuals coming into being; but historically such movements have been sparked by the emergence of
a single exponent of exceptional vision and drive, or perhaps, eccentricity. This appraisal will show
that the contemporary British earth-sheltering movement is probably no exception, but it will inevitably
focus mainly on the body of enthusiasts that has grown up, united by a shared passion and by
commitment to a common set of values. That is where the champions of the UK earth-sheltering
movement are to be found.

Conspicuous in the narrative is the rarity of any institutional endorsement of the earth-sheltered
building type, as also are the lack of any official design guides and the paucity of academic and
6