Thermopassive SIPS house in the Black Isle

Fearnach House on The Black Isle in the Highlands of Scotland was designed by architect Iain Macbeath, and built by the firm’s sister company, Thermopassive.

The house is a 190m² new house, built to the architect’s “Thermopassive” specification with larch timber and render walls and profiled metal roofing. It has PV solar panels with a “diverter” heating up water and charging an electric car. High levels of thermal capacity storage in an insulated concrete floor slab (so it stays warm and flattens out rapid temperature fluctuations) and very good air tightness.

There are no cold bridges (which is more important than you would think) and also a heat recovery ventilation system for fresh air.

This project uses FAKRO top hung and pivot window preSelect MAX and L-shaped combination windows.

When asked, why Fakro roof windows were specified for the project, Ian McBeath told us, “We have been specifying and buying Fakro roof lights for many years. They are well-priced compared with competitive products and of excellent quality and design.

The positioning of the handles at the bottom of the window is also a major factor. It makes it much easier to operate a window with the handles at the bottom rather than the top of the window, which is often out of reach of many shorter and disabled people. The windows are also very well insulated and airtight.”

The windows have helped achieve an extremely energy-efficient home as well as flooding the upper floor rooms with an abundance of natural light. And the client loves the internal and external finishes.

Based in the North of Scotland, Thermopassive Ltd is an architect-owned company which specialises in highly insulated buildings (better than passive house standard) constructed in Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS).