The UK's first Passivhaus Museum sets sail

The North End Shipyard Visitors Centre in Hull is the UK's first Passivhaus certified museum. Designed and delivered by a project team new to Passivhaus, the project offers useful lessons learned for a new building typology.

Hull Maritime Museum. Image credit: Hull City Council

Commissioned by Hull City Council after Hull was named UK City of Culture in 2017, the Visitor Centre includes an exhibition space celebrating Hull’s maritime heritage, with a special focus on the Arctic Corsair fishing vessel. In response to the Council’s 2019 climate emergency and carbon-neutrality goal by 2030, the centre was designed to the Passivhaus standard as a flagship for low-energy, sustainable development within the museum sector. The visitor centre will open to the public once the Arctic Corsair has been berthed in the dry-dock next year.

PHT member Purcell was Architect and Passivhaus Designer on the project, which was certified by PHT member Etude.

Key stats

Construction: Hybrid - timber frame/ concrete
TFA: 283.99 m²
Form factor: 3.4
Build start date: 2022
Completed: 2025 (but external ship docking works still to be completed)
Certified: Passivhaus, 2025

Hull Maritime Museum. Image credit: Hull City Council

Hull Maritime Museum. Image credit: Purcell

We are thrilled that the North End Shipyard visitor centre has received Passivhaus certification, and are delighted to be working with Hull City Council in our collective vision of sustainably designing places where people can belong, encompassing sustainable design for the benefit of our communities.

Owen Plummer, Associate Architect, Purcell

Construction

Flood resilience was a critical requirement of the project, resulting in the development of a hybrid construction strategy. Robust, watertight, internally-insulated concrete walls were specified at at ground level with an insulated I-joist timber frame above. The junctions between these two systems required meticulous detailing to maintain airtightness and avoid thermal bridging,

Achieving Passivhaus certification is testament to Hull’s commitment to preserving our heritage while building a greener future.

The North End Shipyard Visitor Centre not only honours the city’s proud maritime past but also sets a new benchmark for sustainable cultural buildings in the UK. That it has received such recognition even before opening its doors to the public makes the achievement all the more remarkable.

Mike Ross, Leader, Hull City Council

U-values

Roof: 0.072 W/m²K

Timber frame, wood fibre board insulation

Hull Maritime Museam - Image credit Hull City Council

Wall: 0.093 W/m²K

Timber frame, concrete ground floor (due to flood resilience planning requirement)

Floor: 0.086 W/m²K

Concrete floating slab over PIR/ XPS insulation.

Building performance

Designed energy performance

Airtightness n₅₀ (≤ 0.6ACH @ 50 Pa)

0.47 @ 50 Pa

Space Heating Demand (≤ 15 kWh/m².a)

11 kWh/m².a

Heating Load (≤ 10 W/m²)

10 W/m²

Primary Energy Demand (≤ 120 kWh/m².a)

89 kWh/m².a

Primary Energy Renewable (PER) Demand (≤ 60 kWh/m².a*)

72 kWh/m².a

*+/-15 kWh/m².a allowance if offset by energy generation. See Passivhaus criteria.

Services

The building is all-electric and heated with small with panel radiators. Solar PV panels on the roof deliver some of the building's electricity.

The building primarily uses high-efficiency mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems for ventilation. These units feature variable airflow control, with fan speeds adjusted based on CO₂ and temperature sensors located in the extract ducts. Operable windows allow manual purge ventilation during summer months. The building contains three MVHR units: two serving the ground floor areas and one larger unit dedicated to the Exhibition space and associated first-floor supporting areas.

The summer comfort strategy involved setting back windows and doors on the south elevation of the building and using aluminium aluminum shrouds and internal blinds tor shading.

Hull Maritime Museum. Image credit: Hull City Council

Challenges & lessons learned

The North End Shipyard Visitors Centre in Hull presented a unique set of challenges that demanded innovative thinking and close collaboration between the clients and project team. Balancing ambitious sustainability goals with the constraints of a historically sensitive and technically complex site was a central challenge throughout the scheme.

Shared vision: The decision to pursue Passivhaus was very much a collaborative one. The design team, brought forward the initial concept and carried out an early feasibility study to assess whether Passivhaus was achievable on this site, which had encouraging results. Hull City Council were proactive and receptive from the start. They saw the value in adopting Passivhaus standard and led the charge in terms of ambition.Having a shared vision made all the difference in ensuring the project stayed true to its sustainability goals.

Early stage design: The early alignment between client and design team was crucial and meant that energy performance, orientation, and building form were considered right from the briefing and concept design stages.

Glazing: One of the most significant hurdles was reconciling Passivhaus principles with the architectural aspiration for expansive north-facing glazing. This was essential to provide uninterrupted views of the dry-docked Arctic Corsair trawler, a key heritage asset central to the scheme. Typically, Passivhaus design discourages large areas of glazing on the north elevation due to heat loss, but the project team overcame this by enhancing the thermal performance of the building envelope, including improved wall and roof U-values, to offset the additional losses.

Flood resilience: Located adjacent to the River Hull, flood resilience was a critical requirement. This led to the development of a hybrid construction strategy: robust, watertight concrete walls at ground level (internally insulated) combined with an insulated I-joist timber frame above. The transition between these two systems required meticulous detailing to maintain airtightness and avoid thermal bridging, particularly at the first-floor junctions.Achieving the stringent airtightness target was a technical challenge that demanded precision in both design and execution.

Heritage context: The building was designed to be all-electric, relying on low-wattage electric panel heaters powered by discreetly-integrated roof-mounted PV panels. The technologies had to be carefully positioned to minimise visual impact on the historic setting.

Viewing balcony: The north-facing viewing balcony also required an innovative structural solution to avoid thermal bridging. It was cantilevered from the ground floor walls to preserve the integrity of the thermal envelope.

Collaboration: The close collaboration between the design and contracting teams played a crucial role in eliminating the performance gap on site. This integrated approach fostered shared goals and accountability, continuous communication, and proactive problem-solving, ensuring that the high workmanship standards that Passivhaus required were realised in the built outcome.This highly collaborative way of working proved to be extremely effective and will be carried forward into future projects to maintain high standards of performance and delivery.

Architect’s view

In 2019, Hull City Council declared a climate emergency and made a bold commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. Around the same time, we were in the early stages of planning the new visitor centre at the North End Shipyard. It was a perfect opportunity to put those climate ambitions into action in a tangible, high-profile way.

Passivhaus gave us a clear, rigorous route to achieving ultra-low operational energy demand. It’s a standard rooted in measurable performance, using high levels of insulation, airtightness, and efficient ventilation systems. What really made it viable in this case was the ability to meet that reduced energy demand through rooftop solar PVs, completely removing the need for a mains gas connection. It’s a solution that not only works for this project but sets a replicable example for future low-carbon developments.

The North End Shipyard Visitor Centre revitalises a once-forgotten area of the city and establishes a major visitor attraction to help cement Hull’s status as a world-class destination. The project sets a new benchmark for sustainable cultural infrastructure, responding thoughtfully to its unique setting.

Owen Plummer, Associate Architect, Purcell

Key team

Client: Hull City Council
Architect & Passvhaus Designer: Purcell
Contractor: Ashcourt
Structural engineer: Mason Clark Associates
M&E consultant: TGA
Passivhaus Certifier: Etude

Airtightness measures in Exhibition space. Image credit: Ashcourt

Congratulations to the whole team on delivering the UK's first.Passivhaus museum and in a uniquely challenging historic and flood-prone setting. What is more, the project was the first Passivhaus for all members of the team, making it even more of an impressive achievement.