Ecohomes need not look like the fallout from a science-fiction writer's nightmare. Some architects are sticking to traditional values

Think of environmentally friendly houses and what do you imagine? Probably a futuristic-looking house bristling with wind turbines. But these days it can be something more low-key as well.

From the outside, Raven Housing Trust's flats look like new versions of Victorian houses. The only hint that they are something special comes in the photovoltaic panels on the roof and the larger windows to maximise natural light.

These homes in South Nutfield, Surrey, are the first social housing properties to meet level five of the six-step code for sustainable homes, which the government uses to rate the credentials of green housing. Green features include a wood-chip-powered biomass boiler, a ventilation and heat-exchange system, low-flow taps and rainwater harvesting.

"People think environmentally friendly design will be wacky, with wind turbines on the roof and so on, but we wanted to make these homes look like any other," says Raven development manager Pete Trowbridge.

Meanwhile, Gentoo Homes housing association has taken a German design standard and tweaked it to meet north-east England tastes. Passiv Haus homes are so well insulated that they would not normally have chimneys, but Gentoo is putting on fake ones to help the homes blend in with their surroundings in Tyne and Wear. The bathrooms will have radiators; though not, strictly speaking, necessary, they at least provide somewhere for residents to hang their towels, says Allan Thompson, operations director at Gentoo Homes. "You have to make small concessions so it is not too radical a move for the great British public," he explains.

Out with the old?

But some architects think a new, greener mindset should be accompanied by a new aesthetic. Bill Dunster, who designs housing schemes without fossil fuels like BedZed and RuralZed, says green designs that ape old styles are a form of retro-escapism. "The language of the contemporary vernacular is different," he says. "We need to recognise that and embrace the reality of 21st-century life and the environmental challenges we are facing. Using traditional materials but a modern aesthetic is the way forward."

In Suffolk, Orwell Housing Association has doffed its hat to traditional building methods while using a rather unusual material - hemp. The highly breathable "Hemcrete" is sandwiched between panels, creating a structure that regulates temperature very well. Architect Cathy Hawley says the way the homes are clustered in small groups reflects the barns and 1950s council houses nearby, while the houses themselves are a pinky brown, a more low-key version of the pink renders used on the county's thatched homes. But the traditional theme stops there, as the buildings have greater amounts of glazing to the south to make use of natural heat and light from the sun. "They don't look like new-old houses," she says. "But I don't think we have made a complete break with the past."

In Milton Keynes, architects have designed homes that can be styled to suit any neighbourhood. The homes, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners for a government competition to build a home for £60,000, are made of panels using old phone books as insulation with breathable glues. The Milton Keynes homes look fairly contemporary but a version of the design, built as a show house elsewhere by developer Wimpey, was given a brick and block skin for a traditional appearance. "We don't believe there should be a fixed aesthetic," says architect Ivan Harbour. "You should have a good system that allows buildings to be well built and insulated and perform well."

As the pressure mounts to make our new homes greener, it is not yet clear whether the modern will win out over the traditional. But if today's homes are anything to go by, the green homes of the future may well come in all shapes and styles.

Weblinks

Bill Dunster: zedfactory.com
Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners: richardrogers.co.uk
Raven Housing Trust: ravenht.org.uk
Orwell Housing Association: orwell-housing.co.uk
Gentoo Group: gentoogroup.com
Ritches Hawley Mikhail: rhmarchitects.com