There's a new Passivhaus giant in the UK

A new project now claims the title for the UK's largest Passivhaus building - the Woodmill & St Columba's RC High Schools building in Dunfermline - superceding Palmerston Court in Battersea, which still retains the title for the UK's tallest Passivhaus building. The UK's largest 3 Passivhaus projects/ developments (as of July 2025) are listed below.

1. UK's largest Passivhaus building

Woodmill & St Columba's High Schools, Dunfermline, Fife. Image credit: AHR/ Keith Hunter Photography

Woodmill & St Columba's RC High Schools, Dunfermline, Fife

Two high schools have been rebuilt and co-located into one single building. The project team was keen to keep the form of the large building as compact as possible. Merging both high schools into one single building allowed for a highly efficient form factor thus reducing the building fabric heat loss area.

Type: School buildings

No. of pupils: 2,759

TFA: 23,151 m²

Certified: Passivhaus, 2025

2. UK's largest Passivhaus development

Purdown View, Bristol

Redefining sustainable student living, this cluster of individually certified building blocks all on one site makes this the UK’s largest Passivhaus development.

Type: Student accommodation

No. of units: 900 bedooms

TFA: 21,462m² (Block 1: 7,961m², Block 2: 8,529m², Block 3: 4,972m²)

Certified: Passivhaus, 2024

UWE Purdown View I Image © Stride Treglown

3. UK's tallest Passivhaus building

Urbanest Battersea, Palmerston Court I Image credit ©AHMM

Palmerston Court, Battersea

Three towering blocks rise from a single podium, making this the UK's second largest single building certified to Passivhaus, superceded by the Woodmills & St Columba's RC High Schools building. Palmerston Court retains the title of the UK's tallest Passivhaus building.

Type: Student accommodation

No. of units: 199 (853 bedrooms)

No. of storeys: 11-19

TFA: 17,964 m²

Certified: Passivhaus, 2025

UK & world's largest Passivhaus Premium

Erne Campus, Enniskillen

In a league of its own, Erne Campus still holds the world title for largest building certified to Passivhaus Premium.

Type: Educational building

No. of students: 2800

TFA: 7,167m²

Certified: Passivhaus Premium, 2021

Erne Campus, Image credit: South West College

Title contenders on the horizon

Eclipse Leisure Centre, Spelthorne: Soon to take the title from St Sidwell's in Exeter to be UK's largest Passivhaus leisure centre with a TFA of 7,644 m².

2 Trafalgar Square, London: Housing 1,672 student beds and 80 residential apartments across three towers of 28, 36 and 46 storeys, this London development with approximately 67,000 m² gross external area (GEA) could become Europe's largest Passivhaus student accommodation.

Willohaus, Salford: 100 homes in a single building soon to supercede Greenhaus (96 homes) delivered by the same developer ECF (English Cities Fund).
City of York Council's Housing Programme: Aiming to deliver 600 certified Passivhaus homes across seven sites, would take the title of the largest Passivhaus estate regeneration from Agar Grove in London - a phased programme still underway delivering just under 500 homes.
Barratt Homes, London: The UK volume housebuilder is set to adopt Passivhaus across all its London residential schemes, with the first phase to deliver a total of 728 homes. These projects are part of a larger £1.9 billion collaboration that will bring 4,000 new homes to the capital over the next decade.

How do UK Passivhaus projects compare globally?

Passivhaus projects worldwide are pushing the boundaries of high-performance design. Below are how some of the biggest global developments stack up. Check the International Passive House Buildings Database for the latest project updates arcoss the world.

Project name	Project type	Location	TFA (m²)
Frankfurt Hospital	Health	Germany	61,020
Boston office block	Commercial	USA	57,849
Innsbruck apartment block	Residential	Austria	27,804
Woodmill & St Columba's RC High Schools, Dunfermline	Educational building	UK	23,151
Purdown View, Bristol	Student accommodation	UK	21,462 (total)
Vienna Office	Commercial	Austria	20,984
Vienna apartment block	Residential	Austria	19,366
New York student block	Student accommodation	USA	18,426
Palmerston Court, Battersea	Student accommodation	UK	17,964
Monash University	Educational building	Australia	15,860

There's a new Passivhaus giant in the UK

1. UK's largest Passivhaus building

Woodmill & St Columba's RC High Schools, Dunfermline, Fife