Mole Architects

Recently we have been working with Swanton Novers Community Land Trust and Broadland Housing Association on a scheme for 7 new homes on the fringe of a small village in Norfolk. We are pleased to see it has now received planning approval and will begin construction shortly. The proposal was inspired by the village vernacular of low boundary walls, single storey village buildings and gable fronted homes. Another key ambition of the project was to provide a development that encouraged community cohesion. A variety of outdoor spaces with differing levels of privacy help to promote community; the homes are gathered around an open grassed courtyard, have small south facing gardens which face south overlooking the courtyard, with low garden walls, and provide semi private entrance spaces. Each home has a private garden to the rear and a shared orchard garden is to the east of the new homes as part of the development. #molearchitects #communityhousing #villagehousing #vernaculararchitecture #clt

The office recently visited Newhall in Harlow new town , Essex to take a look at the housing schemes by @alisonbrooksarchitects @richardmurphyarchitects and @proctormatthews among others. Newhall is an urban quarter providing mixed-tenure homes, employment space and local amenities for 6,000 residents once completed. It is one of the few examples of a suburban housing development that began with a strong architectural agenda. It is still in development with construction underway for the next phase of homes. The visit was a reminder of how important car parking, surface treatment , greenery and trees on streets are to urban planning and successful places for people to live in. A very successful public green space along the fringe of the masterplan creates a generous outdoor space close to homes. We were particularly inspired by Richard Murphy Architect's scheme which aims to move away from suburban developments of isolated houses, with unused front garden spaces. Instead, as much private garden as possible was enclosed into a single walled garden for each house. It is interesting to see how the first homes in the scheme, built some 20 years ago have aged, and we can acknowledge the importance of robust materials and a good build quality. There were some impressive material palettes and building forms in the mix! The team spent much of their day huddled around plans and drawings, working out housing density and car parking ratios across the site. Overall we came away feeling quite inspired. #molearchitects #practiceday #teammole #housingresearch #ukhousing #fieldtrip

ur project for new accommodation for Amaravati Buddhist Monastery is taking shape and nearly ready to submit to planning. The project is targeting Passive House, in keeping with the monastery’s commitment to reducing their environmental footprint. The unusual typology and challenging site has led to some detailed and interesting conversations with the MEP engineers, E3 Consulting Engineers, and Passive House specialist Alan Clarke whom our inhouse Passive House designer Alice is working with. Compared to a typical house, the buildings will have a high occupation rate and fewer activities like cooking that generate humidity, so it’s likely that the air will get very dry in winter. To counter this, we’re using enthalpy recovery ventilation, which retains more moisture in the air than standard heat recovery ventilation. We’re keeping almost all the lovely mature trees on the site, although they create a challenge for balancing the heat demand! For this project it’s making more sense to aim for the ‘peak load’ Passive House criteria rather than the better-known heat demand target. The peak load can be a better metric for shaded sites as it indicates a robust design that will respond well in different conditions, both winter and summer. #passivehouse #passivhaus

Our buildings C2 and D2 have recently been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA London Awards. We’re excited to be included on such a fabulous shortlist of projects, including our friends @archicture00 whose buildings are next door🥳 The two buildings are part of the Design District ; a new pedestrian quarter for creative industries on the Greenwich peninsula. Mole’s two buildings are intentionally different from each other; one compact and angular with a dichroic cladding, the other Corten-clad and stacked like a ziggurat. Internally they share the same qualities; something of the feel of an old warehouse, with exposed beams and wooden ceilings which give warmth and character. Of the 16 new buildings that make up the district Mole’s buildings are unique in being built with timber structures. Both buildings are designed to limit energy consumption, with consideration to both embodied energy use during construction. Energy in-use is limited by phase-change material linings, and external blinds preventing overheating.

Dovehouse Court Almshouses have been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA East Awards. It rubs shoulders with some excellent projects, and to even be shortlisted is testament to the client’s commitment to delivering homes to the highest standards. The 15 homes are Certified Passivhaus’ and are for over 55’s with a connection to the village of Girton. The homes face into a landscaped courtyard, which is open to the south. Feedback from residents is enormously positive, Sam said moving in has changed his life, and another resident is able to have her grandchildren visit. Electricity usage is on average just over 35KWh/m2/yr the LETI 2050 target. #RIBAAWARDS #passivhaus #almshouses #laterliving photos @dnbutlr @lowfieldtimberframes @conisbee_uk @jamiebuchananlandscape @barnesconstruction_ @northmoresuk

We recently met with the future residents of the Northstowe cohousing group and Buddhist cohousing community @suvanacam for the first codesign workshop, which we hosted alongside @we.are.town at @northstowetapandsocial We explored key themes of the site layout, looked at the shared external spaces, and explored different options for the position of the common house within the two new communities. The codesign process allows future residents of the scheme to contribute to the emerging design for Northstowe cohousing. We really enjoyed meeting the future residents and look forward to the next three co-design sessions. #cohousing, #codesign, #northstowe #triratnabuddhism #triratna

Our first Passive House scheme was built over ten years ago and was one of the first Certified social housing projects the UK. We now have two Certified Passive House Designers, and assess our designs using PHPP software as a matter of course. Our affordable housing scheme for Broadland Housing is based on a combination of passive solar design, a reduction in thermal bridging and infiltration losses, and a measurable improvement in building practice. The houses draw on a local vernacular, made distinct through the need to open up to the south, and to have few windows to the north. Materials are locally sourced clay pantiles, brick and timber boarding. The affordable houses feel warm in winter and cool in summer, generous, and filled with light. #passivhaus #solardesign #ukhousing #broadland photos by Peter Cook sketch Mole architects

One of our Passive House designers, Alice Hamlin, will be introducing Dovehouse Court almshouses this Wednesday as one of 4 case studies in the @passivhaustrust ‘s webinar series #HowtoBuild a Passivhaus. Over the series we’ll get into lots of detail on the construction, M&E strategy and lessons learnt. We’re looking forward to sharing how we achieved Passive House certification and the benefits this has brought for the residents. And we’re excited to learn about the other case study projects! #molearchitects #passivhaus #solardesign #ukhousing #lowenergyhousing photos of completed project @dnbutlr photos during construction @molearchitects

Plot L2 at Orchard Park, Cambridge, is a new housing scheme in partnership with the Cambridge City Council and Cambridge Investment Partnership. The project created 75 residential apartments, 30 of which are council rented homes. The buildings comprise a total of 16 2-bed flats, 36 1-bed flats and 23 studio flats. The scheme was designed with place making in mind, ensuring the places within and surrounding the scheme are of high quality and character, creating a sense of continuity with the wider Orchard Park Development. Photos by @msap_photo #molearchitects #cambridgecitycouncil #L2housing #cambridge #cip #councilhomes #housingdevelopment #newhomes #architecture @cambridge_ip @Hill_Group_UK

Working in partnership with Cambridge Investment Partnership and Hill Group, Fanshawe is a residential development which provides 84 new dwellings. The buildings comprise a total of 13 2-bed flats, 25 1-bed flats and 17 3-bed homes. The vision of the project is to create a high-quality community, provide a greater number of homes, and improve access to the protected open space the buildings sit within. The project gained planning approval in September 2024 #molearchitects #cambridgecitycouncil #cambridge #cip #councilhomes #housingdevelopment #newhomes #architecture @cambridge_ip @Hill_Group_UK