Hackney's Passivhaus programme tackles infill sites

Hackney Council has begun a programme of Passivhaus social housing development, with eight sites in the pipeline. Joining other councils across Greater London, Hackney is targeting Passivhaus certification for 197 homes, with seven of the eight schemes now granted planning permission

Hackney Council - Fellows Court. Image credit: Haworth Tompkins, Balaan Murphy & Nooma

As part of its pledge to build new homes for social rent, Hackney Council started a New Homes Programme of around 400 homes on 14 council-owned locations,focusing on infill sites such as underused garages and car parks. Passivhaus certification is being targeted for at least 197 of these homes at 8 separate sites..

The project teams for the Hackney Passivhaus projects have placed a lot of emphasis on getting details ironed out at the pre-planning stage. Form factor, orientation, MVHR location and envelope performance have been prioritised to establish whether Passivhaus was achievable within the budget on each site. Programme-wide workshops have been held across project design teams to align performance targets and a degree of standardisation in components and details, which also builds contractor familiarity and purchasing power across the programme.

We’re building some of the best new council homes in the country. They’re spacious, energy efficient, designed in partnership with communities and, most importantly of all, local people always get first dibs.

Hackney Council

Projects

Buckland Court No. of units: 45 Project stage: Planning permission granted Key team: Sergison Bates Architects, Momentum Engineering, XCO2, MEAD Consulting
Cropley Court No. of units: 45 Project stage: Planning permission granted Key team: Sergison Bates Architects, Momentum Engineering, XCO2, MEAD Consulting
Fellows Court No. of units: 28 Project stage: Planning permission granted & contractor appointed Key team: Haworth Tompkins, Nooma Studio and Balaam Murphy, HTS, XCO2, MEAD Consulting
Wayman Court No. of units: 14 Project stage: Planning permission granted Key team: Haworth Tompkins, Nooma Studio and Balaam Murphy, HTS, XCO2, MEAD Consulting
Nye Bevan No. of units: 9 Project stage: Planning permission granted & contractor appointed Key team: Citizens Design Bureau, Simple Works, XCO2, MEAD Consulting
Blackwell Close No. of units: 18 Project stage: Planning permission granted & contractor appointed Key team: Al-Jawad Pike, Momentum Engineering, XCO2, MEAD Consulting
Morris Blitz Court No. of units: 19 Project stage: Planning permission granted & contractor appointed Key team: Archio, Simple Works, XCO2, MEAD Consulting
Parkside Estate No. of units: 19 Project stage: Not yet submitted for planning Key team: Al-Jawad Pike, Momentum Engineering, XCO2, MEAD Consulting

Design

As the projects are all at constrained urban infill plots, overshadowing from neighbouring buildings and fixed orientations were common, so the design teams relied on fabric and building form, where Passivhaus 'easy wins', such as optimal orientation, weren't available. That makes the programme a useful model for councils with similar sites.

Where possible, designs for these schemes have consolidated apartments around single cores, compressing the extent of each building as far as possible and stacking identical units efficiently. This approach reduced structural costs and material use while also benefiting Passivhaus performance, land use and overshadowing of neighbouring buildings.

Glazing, daylight and thermal performance have been considered in the whole rather than as separate workstreams, helping to resolve the tension between maximising glazing for daylight and controlling solar gain and heating demand through integrated design rather than sequential sign-off. The overheating strategy has required particularly close coordination across disciplines.

Window restrictors, building safety requirements and noise on several sites reduced the role of natural ventilation for cooling, so a number of schemes include active cooling solutions. The cost and viability of these choices were assessed across the whole programme rather than site by site.

Together, these projects show that high quality, low energy Passivhaus homes can be delivered for social rent even on the most constrained urban sites, offering useful lessons for other councils across London and beyond.

Take part

Have your say on the London Plan. The draft London Plan consultation closes on Thursday 15 October. Join the Trust's respond-a-long webinar on Tuesday 6 October (1-2pm) for guidance on the key messages to include in your response. Register here:

Continue learning about Hackney's Passivhaus progress at the UK Passivhaus Conference 2026. Sara Godinho, Associate Director at XCO2, will speak about the programme in the 'Client perspectives' afternoon session on 18 November, in London and online. A limited number of sponsor-funded complimentary tickets are available for social housing providers, local authorities and public sector organisations working to deliver Passivhaus at scale. Find out how to apply.