A low energy home in the Highlands designed by HLM Architects has been announced as a finalist in the Rural category for the 2016 UK Passivhaus Awards.

Set in the hamlet of Gorstan in the Scottish Highlands, Tigh na Croit nestles quietly into an area of former crofting land. The dwelling creates a high quality contemporary, low energy, environmentally responsible house which takes Highland and rural design as inspiration whilst achieving the European Passivhaus standard to radically drive down energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

As one of the most northerly certified Passivhaus projects in the UK, Tigh na Croit achieves an 80 per cent reduction in energy through considered orientation, simple architectural form, careful detailing, high levels of air tightness and a super insulated building fabric.

Ross Barrett, associate at HLM, said: “Our intention was that the house should look towards the form of a traditional steading in creating an appropriate scale and form for the site. We proposed a contemporary architectural solution where the scale, proportion, openings, roof pitch and mix of materials are all contextually relevant to the rural landscape and create a high quality, low energy design looking towards new successful precedents of rural, Highland Housing.”

Passivhaus is the leading international low energy, design standard. Over 37,000 buildings have been designed, built and tested to this standard worldwide. The buildings are built with meticulous attention to detail and rigorous design and construction according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany, and can be certified through an exacting quality assurance process.

The Trust aims to promote the principles of Passivhaus as a highly effective way of reducing energy use and carbon emissions from buildings in the UK, as well as providing high standards of comfort and building health. The 2016 UK Passivhaus Awards will focus on Passivhaus exemplars that may inspire the growing self-build market.

The winner of the 2016 UK Passivhaus Awards is due to be announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday 7th July.

Tigh na Croit was also recently commended in the Residential category at the Scottish Design Awards and is shortlisted for the Architectural Excellence category in the Scottish Home Awards 2016.