Five-bedroom Northwick house could be replaced by eco home

The owners of the property in Northwick Close want to replace it with a “low maintenance, high quality” alternative.

Plans have been put forward to demolish the existing house, which was built in the early 1970s.

In its place would go a “largely off-site manufactured, low-energy house, using renewable construction and sustainable technology where feasible”.

NOW: The current house, which was built in the 1970s (Image: Zinc Architecture)

Planning documents submitted to Worcester City Council state: “As experienced with many houses of this period, the construction and levels of insulation are very poor by contemporary standards.

“Various additions and alterations of poor quality followed predominantly to the southern end. As a result this part of the house contains spaces that would be very difficult and uneconomical to convert, or re-use, and the construction is questionable.

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“Materials such as membranes and plastics have started to fail after 40-50 years and so it is generally in poor condition too.”

According to the planning statement, the owners of the house want to create a “long-term family home” but “any conversion or upgrade of the existing will be very costly and a compromise in terms of design and technical standards”.

POND: The proposed house from the back and its 'natural swimming pond' (Image: Zinc Architecture)

It adds: “Coupled with the known, and unknown, issues that come with the older construction, it makes sense to opt for a replacement dwelling, due to the extensive long-term benefits.”

The proposed replacement house would have six bedrooms, plus a garage and carport with a wildflower roof.

It is claimed the new house would bring about a reduction in annual energy usage of 60 per cent, plus a reduction in carbon emissions of 35 per cent.

“It would only take the replacement dwelling an estimated 24 years before the embodied carbon of the new construction is offset entirely by its greatly reduced energy usage,” the plans say.

The proposals also include the removal of the existing swimming pool, which is described as not being in working order and “a large visual eyesore”.

It would be replaced by “an environmentally friendly natural swimming pond” closer to the house.