Houlton Primary

Houlton Primary School forms part of Urban & Civic’s regeneration masterplan in Rugby. Etude were appointed as Passivhaus Designer and sustainability consultant to achieve certification and deliver a high-performance, low-energy school, meeting DfE and planning requirements.

Constructed in cross-laminated timber (CLT), the building reduces embodied carbon and delivers airtight, low-thermal-bridge construction. We developed the energy strategy in PHPP and carried out Part L modelling, alongside daylight and overheating assessments to inform the design. The design targets <15 kWh/m²/yr space heating demand and <0.6 m³/m²/hr airtightness, supported by MVHR, air source heat pumps and a 100kWp photovoltaic array generating around 80% of annual energy demand on site.

The result is a low-embodied-carbon school with very low operational energy demand, reducing environmental impact and long-term running costs.