Adrian James Architects wraps Copper Bottom house in origami-like shell
A green-patinated copper shell topped with solar panels forms this "habitable power station" in Oxford, designed by local studio Adrian James Architects.
Named Copper Bottom, the two-storey house is a self-build project created by studio founder Adrian James for his family on a sloping wildflower meadow high on Harcourt Hill.
Aiming for a high benchmark of sustainability, Adrian James Architects designed the four-bedroom house with a simple cuboid form and a sculptural copper carapace that protects the structure from the sun and minimises its energy demand.
"The starting points were a compact form, a roof maximising southerly aspect for solar panels, and an envelope which sheltered the windows from high sun," said James.
"These primary moves established the basics, then it was a case of sculpting this basic form to create something uplifting and resonant."
On the ground floor, a double-height gallery space forms the heart of Copper Bottom. It sits alongside an open-plan living room and kitchen with a mezzanine level designed as a space for home working.
Upstairs the house features four bedrooms, one with an ensuite, and an additional bathroom.
Copper Bottom's defining feature is what the studio describes as its "origami-esque" shell. It features an angled roof plane that cantilevers out like a peaked cap to prevent high summer sun from entering the house's big south-facing windows but allowing low winter rays in.
On the house's east and west flanks, creased bulges create deep reveals for the east- and west-facing windows.
Meanwhile, on top of the house, two "ears" form ventilation stacks designed to draw in cool night air and expel hot air accumulated throughout the day during the summer months.
"There are subtle hints of something zoomorphic and something mechanistic, with paired ears and a prow," added James. "It is really about capturing a sense of dynamism in the form which puts a spring in your step."
On the house's roof a huge array of 37 photovoltaic panels, angled towards the sun. The energy these generate is more than the house demands.
"The intention is for the house to be a habitable power station – actually something we want all our designs to be," said James.
This excess power means Copper Bottom is not only zero-carbon in terms of operation but it is also expected to offset the embodied energy associated with its construction.
The house's superstructure has also been designed with a focus on airtightness. It is made of prefabricated timber panels clad with a system of lightweight timber trusses supporting a plywood skin. An air-source heat pump reduces the energy demand for water heating.
Copper Bottom was designed to showcase the durability and versatility of recycled copper, a material James praised as durable, readily available and low maintenance.
While copper does not continually corrode like other metals, it gradually patinates from its original brown colour to green verdigris when exposed to the air.
Yet this process takes time and so to achieve Copper Bottom's green exterior the architect chose to use metal that had been prepatinated in a factory using a chemical wash.
The architect chose a lime version of verdigris, rather than the usual turquoise, to harmonise with the house's surrounding greenery, including its mature trees and wildflower meadows.
Inside Copper Bottom, the interiors are kept light with white walls and minimal detailing. To create tactility and warmth, the studio has added a large feature wall in the central double-height space made of textured stock brick.
This doubles as a wall for a stair leading to a mezzanine home office space, where a wide oak desk looks down over the dining table, through the double-height window to the garden and landscape beyond.
Large format porcelain tiles have been used on the floors downstairs, while upstairs the floors, joinery and doors have been made in stained oak. Large windows offer views over the rolling countryside and spires of central Oxford.
The plot of land where Copper Bottom was built, which lies just on the edge of the Oxford Green Belt, was bought by James and his wife for the self-build project and originally formed part of the neighbouring property's garden.
Other self-built houses recently featured on Dezeen include a "characterful family home" with three gardens by Surman Weston and Atwater House that the co-founder of the firm Design, Bitches and her architect husband built over two decades.
The photography is by Fisher Studios.
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