The Garden Room
This high-performance, bio-based garden room serves as a living lab for the University of Suffolk and was delivered as part of the road to net zero challenge fund.
Year
2022
Location
BT Adastral Park
Client
New Anglia LEP
Size
9m2 GIA
This pilot project at BT Adastral Park in Ipswich, was delivered in partnership with the University of Suffolk’s Institute for Sustainability and funded by the New Anglia LEP via the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund. Designed to demonstrate the feasibility of the modular, low-carbon ADEPT® construction system and the potential for buildings to act as net carbon sinks, the studio was built on eight concrete pads with a wood-fibre filled floor cassette system, Hempsil and wood-fibre wall panels, and roof cassettes. The envelope was completed with rigid wood fibre insulation to achieve passive-house performance levels a weatherproof membrane, scottish vertical larch cladding and timber shingles, while the interior featured plasterboard, cork flooring, and natural finishes including Graphenstone paint. The building is now being monitored by the University to assess its thermal performance and hygrothermal buffering over time — results pending.
Prof Darryl Newport - Suffolk Sustainability Institute
“The garden studio at Adastral Park aims to demonstrate how locally manufactured, bio-based construction can deliver both performance and circularity. As part of our Smart House Living Lab, it offers a unique opportunity to monitor real-world data on thermal comfort and material behaviour — and to explore scalable solutions for low-carbon buildings.”
Photo Credit: Charlotte Bond
-
![]()
In Sun.
-
![]()
Corner View.
-
![]()
Porch.
-
![]()
Outdoor Table.
