Leather Gardens celebrates achieving Passivhaus Accreditation

At the end of July, we were delighted to hand over the first of four Passivhaus projects we are delivering for our client the London Borough of Newham.

Leather Gardens, which has been named ‘Jean Desforges House’ has achieved Passivhaus classic standard and we were excited to recently receive the block’s Passivhaus plaque to verify this certification. The plaque was rapidly affixed to the property by our proud delivery team, who have completed the first official Passivhaus residential scheme for Kind!

We are delighted that the data collated by independent quality assessors yielded excellent results when benchmarked against the minimum targets required to achieve Passivhaus classic; including air tightness, which improved by 20% on the minimum target requirement of 0.6 air changes per hour (with overall results coming in at 0.48 air changes per hour). Also, we saw 'annual heating demand' improve upon the minimum standard by 33% overall. 

Prior to hand over, our delivery team and our client’s team at Newham Council celebrated the completion and success of this project. This included the key consulting team: Passivhaus designer and delivery architect Tooley Foster, structural & civil engineers Graphic Structures and Airey Miller. 

This 100% affordable housing scheme will provide the future tenants of Newham Council with five maisonettes and 16 flats. Surrounding the block are soft landscaped areas and a small playground and planting space. The scheme will bring lower fuel bills for their tenants and meets the borough's strong ambition to tackle fuel poverty.

Our MD Steve Juson commented on the completion of Leather Gardens saying:

‘The completion and Passivhaus certification for Leather Gardens is a momentous achievement in our company’s history, particularly as we move towards our 80th year in operation in 2025. We are thrilled with the results we have received from the independent assessors, which outlines the delivery teams efforts throughout the construction of this project to ensure we strive for the best possible outcome for our client. We look forward to continuing to meet our wide-ranging clients’ requirements to deliver low energy, high performing quality buildings that address the climate issues we face as a nation and as a planet’.

Leather Gardens is one of 6 Passivhaus projects across London we have been appointed to deliver, and with more projects in the pipeline, we look forward to bringing more news about these schemes soon!

We would be pleased to hear from potential clients interested in finding out more about our experience, and how we can help deliver more low carbon homes and buildings across London and the Southeast. Click here for more information.