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 Last updated 25/05/06
Computer-generated images of how the PPS7 house at Ashby cum Fenby will look when finished.  A photovoltaic roof above the entrance hall will collect solar energy. Geothermal heating will be installed and a grass-covered roof will provide insulation. Bio crops on the estate will supply more than half its energy needs. The roof terrace will incorporate solar-thermal water heating panels.   
Ashby cum Fenby, near Cleethorpes. A new PPS7 approved country house.
Designed by Keith Bradley of award-winning practice Feilden Clegg Bradley, with the  planning handled by the Reading office of Barton Willmore, and backed by CABE,  the home will be vastly different from most other 21st-century houses.   Its scale will compare with some of the biggest country houses in history.  “The floor area of about 40,000 sq ft will be about the same as Castle Howard or Hardwick Hall,”  says Bradley. Not only will the roof of the two-winged home be covered in grasses, but more  than half its energy needs will be provided by bio-crops grown on the estate.
Fielden Clegg Bradley came to the attention of environmentalists last year as the designer of the National Trust’s new headquarters in Swindon, a model of sustainability in office design. Their gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park has been shortlisted for a Gulbenkian prize. Other projects include the Northampton City Academy and the theatre at Bedales school.
The property will incorporate a world-class equestrian centre, with stabling for twenty or so horses. It will be ready in time for the Olympics and should nearby Burghley House be one of the competition venues, the client believes it would make an ideal training facility for the British team. There will be at least twelve bedrooms and a double-height hall for entertaining. Such vast accommodation would have once accommodated shooting parties and, as such, their use by eventing enthusiasts is very much in keeping with the country house sporting tradition.