November 1 2021

Urban Union, part of the Robertson Group, is inviting the public to experience circular design at home through the delivery of a zero-carbon timber frame building at Anderston Quay to coincide with the COP26 climate conference.

Developed by Beyond Zero Homes, a collaborative grouping of 20 organisations across the housebuilding sector, the demonstration home illustrates how affordable homes can be built with little impact on the environment using readily available materials and skills.

Led by Peter Smith of Roderick James Architects the COP26 House foregoes the use of concrete and steel wherever possible in favour of locally sourced timber such that more carbon is stored than released during construction. High levels of insulation also limit the requirement for heating, which is provided by electric infrared panels that warm objects and people directly rather than heating the air.

Smith said: "It is vital that the houses we are building now are truly sustainable, being low carbon in construction and use. But with the COP26 house, I wanted to demonstrate that truly sustainable, ecologically responsible buildings can also be beautiful, comfortable to live in and low cost to build using locally-sourced materials.”

The one-bedroom home delivers 70sq/m of internal floor space including a mezzanine studio with an estimated guide price of between £1,800 and £2,500 per square metre to build.

Urban Union managing director Neil McKay adds: “The construction industry has a central role to play in helping to reduce the world’s carbon emissions and the COP26 House demonstrates that many of the solutions needed to fight climate change already exist, we just need to put them into practice.

“Everyone wants a comfortable home and by building the COP26 House we’ve shown they can have that while protecting the environment at the same time. Together with our Beyond Zero Homes partners, we want to welcome as many people as possible to the house so they can see this for themselves."

Open to the public at various points throughout the two-week event the house sits within the Sustainable Glasgow Landing events space overseen by New Practice. Following COP26 the home will be dismantled and dismantled and rebuilt as part of a development of affordable homes near Aviemore.

3 Comments

#1 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 1 Nov 2021 at 09:57 AM

£1,800 to £2,500 per m2 -- build costs?
Somebody is having a laugh -- exploiting the climate panic to line their own pockets.

Off site / system build should drive down costs not offer more middle class welfare to the supply chain.

#2 Posted by Nairn's Bairn on 3 Nov 2021 at 12:48 PM

£1800/m2 is the starting point for any well-insulated timber framed house.

However they advise a wide range of costs - the 70m2 house could cost up to £175K, presumably if you want those copper downpipes.

High levels of insulation and sustainable heating are the norm for any kit house nowadays - I'm not sure what makes this any different (it even has kit house 'boot end' eaves!).

#3 Posted by Rod on 12 Nov 2021 at 06:23 AM

Just visited this and can’t help but cringe. £175k (+land cost) for a 1 bed garden shed.

That’s not going to work.

To cap it off there was a diesel generator working away at the back of the site.

Cringeworthy Virtue Signalling at its worst.

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