Passivhaus for student housing

Yes, there’s fresh air. No, it doesn’t cost more. Yes, it’s designed around the needs of students, not spreadsheets. In a lively edition of the LFA’s Building Sounds podcast, the TP Bennett team challenged some common misconceptions around Passivhaus, explaining how high-performance, energy-efficient design can deliver healthier, more comfortable environments for life and learning.

During the London Festival of Architecture, Vicki Odili, TP Bennett’s Director of Sustainability, architect, Chiara Cozzolino and Thomas Krarup of COBE joined LFA’s Eliza Grosvenor to discuss environmental innovation in student housing for the Building Sounds podcast. Their conversation touched on some of the past failures in the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector and the importance of getting these spaces right. “I think we took a lot of learnings from students who lived in their student accommodation over Covid, who were confined to quite small rooms and didn't have a lot of outlets,” explains Vicki. “It really shone a spotlight on this specific typology of dwellings… what happens when the world around you is not accessible and you are in your small studio bedroom for long periods of time.”

The patterns of use for PBSA differ from other forms of housing. “These are young people at the beginning of their public life, away from their families, coming from various parts of the world, meeting a new culture, a new language, a new environment… we are designing their home, their place to find shelter and recover. So we've got a huge responsibility” adds Chiara. “Our clients are sometimes universities, sometimes developers, sometimes a joint venture of the two. But ultimately, we work for the students that occupy those spaces and so we have more responsibility to make them feel happier and healthier.” 

While Passivhaus is often seen as an approach guided solely by data and metrics, at its heart, it’s a human-centred way of designing. Rather than focusing only on energy efficiency, it involves looking at how buildings actually feel to live in, day to day, hour to hour. One of the biggest benefits of the approach is improved air quality, as in many student buildings, common complaints are stuffy rooms and poor ventilation. Passivhaus tackles this with continuous fresh air systems, which keep oxygen levels up and carbon dioxide levels down. This has a real impact: better air quality can help students feel more alert, less tired and more able to concentrate; it potentially turns the bedroom into a space that actually supports learning.

Thermal comfort is another key factor. Passivhaus buildings are designed to stay warm in winter and cool in summer, without relying heavily on heating or air conditioning, thus reducing energy use and lowering bills. This is done through careful design, insulation, airtight construction and in fundamental early decisions, such as determining the building’s orientation. With rising temperatures, especially in cities like London, overheating is also becoming a serious concern, so additional strategies like shaded facades with solar control can help to keep rooms comfortable, even during heatwaves.

The nature of student housing lends itself particularly well to Passivhaus as these buildings are often quite simple in shape, with repeated room layouts and fewer features like balconies that can complicate construction. This makes it easier to create a well-sealed, efficient building envelope. Keeping the building compact improves performance, as there’s a lower external surface area by which heat can escape. But good student housing isn’t just about individual rooms in a streamlined plan. Many schemes are large, sometimes housing hundreds of students, so creating a sense of community is just as essential. That means designing a mix of spaces, from private rooms to shared kitchens and areas where students can gather and socialise. It’s not just about the big communal hall either, as it’s often the smaller, more intimate spaces that can help break down the scale of large buildings and make them feel more like home.

There are still many common misconceptions about Passivhaus. For example, people often think airtight buildings mean no fresh air, when actually it’s the opposite, as air is carefully controlled and constantly refreshed. There’s also a perception that it’s too expensive. “We talk to a lot of our clients about the return on investment and, for some people, when they're talking to the QS, they say, oh no, Passivhaus is 10% more expensive, so it's ruled out at the outset,” explains Chiara. “Actually, what we have learned is that when you're targeting the levels of air tightness required by Passivhaus, you can reduce the insulation thickness significantly, which potentially means quite a large cost saving, not only in the quantity of insulation, but in all the bracketry and connections within that facade. You're simplifying those facade details.”

The design process is rigorous, creative and iterative. Passivhaus principles encourage teams to test ideas early and often, using specific tools like a Passive House Planning Package to compare different options, from the overall massing to the placement of windows, to see how they affect performance. This leads to clearer, more evidenced decisions and avoids costly changes later on.

Ultimately, using Passivhaus in PBSA is about raising the standard. It’s about creating buildings that not only use less energy, but also genuinely support the people living in them. When done well, this results in spaces that are healthier, more comfortable and better suited to student life. “The other important thing about sustainability is that it's a constant upskilling. There's so much innovation happening that we're all learning on every single project,” adds Vicki. “I think our best design team meetings have been when we've sat around the table and asked everyone to share what's worked well on your last project: what can you bring to the table? What innovations could we consider on this project? While the industry's slow to move, there's a potential opportunity on every project to innovate, even in a small way.”