UK Hempcrete
Studio
Established in 2019, our in-house design practice, Studio Bio, was born out of a strong industry demand for architectural designers with a specialist knowledge of bio-based construction and technical detailing of hempcrete buildings.
Our Practice Lead, Alex Sparrow, heads up our growing team, designing building envelopes from a material-first perspective, to ensure that the implications of building with hempcrete are considered from the very first drawing.
Philosophy
Our studio exists to deliver high quality architectural designs for sustainable buildings using low-impact construction materials, products and methodologies.
The philosophy of our practice is to design buildings that:
- are beautiful;
- cause no harm (to their occupants or the planet);
- people want to inhabit;
- achieve net-zero carbon within 15 years;
- have predictable high-performance and low running costs;
- and can be constructed by non-specialist contractors.
Speciality
Our services
We are happy to provide a fees proposal for a range of design services at any RIBA stage of works, including for design consultancy services, specialised building performance modelling and technical detailing of hempcrete and/or other biobased elements, within your building.
We provide design services at each work stage, including Feasibility, Concept, Planning, Technical and Construction stage. We work on projects of all scales, from residential to commercial and public buildings. Our scope can cover basic layout design and feasibility, to full specification of bio-based construction build-ups and bespoke technical detailing.
Hygrothermal modelling allows us to properly understand the performance of the bio-based materials in your building. We offer a range of modelling services, to provide you with u-values, condensation risk analysis and thermal bridging psi-values. Using a dynamic thermal simulation is the best way to fully understand the performance of materials, like hempcrete, that contain both insulation and thermal mass.
As hempcrete and other biobased materials are relatively new in the construction sector, one of the key problems from the outset is understanding the cost of using these approaches. Based on our many years in the industry, our team can develop a cost model for your project from Concept to Technical Design. Using hempcrete-specific building modelling can show the cost benefits that a hempcrete fabric brings to other aspects of the design.
Our specialist knowledge of hempcrete and other biobased construction underpins our provision of specialist building energy assessment services to projects that are using these innovative approaches. This might include, e.g. SAP assessment for a hempcrete new-build, retrofit assessment with specification for upgrade using vapour-open biobased materials, or thermal bridging (psi) calculations on your architect’s hempcrete details.
Our mission
Our projects
Below you can browse case studies of our previous design work.
North Yorkshire Radical Retrofit
An extensive renovation of a 18th century Yorkshire stone barn. Natural materials have been prioritised throughout the design of this project. The pine king-post roof trusses have been left exposed in the existing building, and a new Douglas fir in-the-round column and glulam beam structure is used in the new glazed extension.
Compact Hempcrete Extension, London
A London based modestly sized rear single-storey extension, which has been carried to completion by the self-builder client to an impressive specification. The small extension replaces an existing sun-room conservatory, and provides additional flexible space to the kitchen and dining room. This hempcrete extension is small but perfectly formed.
Our team are all experienced in specifying bio-based and low-impact materials in construction envelopes, with a specialist expertise in hempcrete. Within our larger team at UK Hempcrete, we work collaboratively to share resources and knowledge.
Alex Sparrow
Practice Lead
Jake Westmoreland
Part II Architectural Assistant
Luke Nichols
Part II Architectural Assistant
Aidan Hogan
Part II Architectural Assistant & Passive House Designer
We have a range of packages for each design stage to suit your project. Call us on 01629 343143 or email design@ukhempcrete.com to discuss how we can get involved with your project! Alternatively, you can fill out our 2-minute contact form to tell us more about your project: