The first SNUG Home has been completed in Bristol, having started life as the winner of NaCSBA’s ‘Self Build on a Shoestring Competition’ in 2016. The house is based on a simple timber-frame module to create a flexible model that can be used to enable people to custom-build a home of their own, that is affordable, adaptable and environmentally-friendly.
Also known as Modulhus, original entry was submitted by Ecomotive which went on to test and refine the model, and its potential to contribute to the affordable homes debate.
Ecomotive were originally interested in building a Tiny Home, but these have issues in that their compact nature means the fall short of space standards, even where this is a conscious choice. Bristol was a natural home for the first build, as it has a strong relationship with innovative and sustainable housing.
The SNUG model offers owners the option to customise a home by choosing the number, size and configuration of the modules, with the factory assembled models delivered part finished for assembly on site.
The pre-fabricated home was built in Ecomotive’s community-based training and construction centre in Lockleaze and assembled on site. The 44m² two-storey, 1-bed home has an A-rating for energy efficiency (98/100) and its airtightness tests fall within the PassivHaus range of performance.
SNUG has been designed to be a Zero Carbon home, meaning that it produces as much energy as it uses, to keep energy bills extremely low. Natural, recycled and re-usable materials have been used in the construction of the home, which avoided the standard off-site approach of relying on a carbon-intensive steel frame with and insulation made from oil-based polymers.
The house was constructed at the rear of an existing home, on the site of a large back garden, and will be managed by Bristol City Council as part of its housing programme.
