The decisions that matter, made before you build.
We lead the concept, design and Passivhaus method for your project — the fabric-first decisions on insulation, airtightness, glazing, materials and budget that actually determine how a building performs. Then we help you find the right contractor to build it, and stay as involved after that as you want us to be.
Passivhaus is a concept that aims for comfortable spaces, minimising energy consumption, and making long-term economic sense.
Client. Designer. Contractor. I've been all three.
Most architects hand a drawing to a contractor and hope it survives contact with reality. I've spent the last decade executing my own designs — not just drawing them — so every choice I make already carries its construction reality: what it costs, how it gets built, the vibe it gives. I've stood behind the budget as the client. I've stood on site as the person who has to make the drawing actually work. I care about sustainability too, and about a building genuinely enhancing the place it sits in — not just occupying it.
— Avi Nir, founder
We lead the start. You choose how it ends.
The stages below are where we add the most value — and where getting it wrong is expensive to fix later. After that, it's your build to run, with as much or as little of us in it as you want.
Concept & feasibility
We start with the site, the brief and the budget shape — sketch options and pressure-test what's actually achievable before you commit to anything.
Design & construction method
Full design work, modelled in PHPP, so the fabric-first decisions — insulation, airtightness, glazing, ventilation — are locked in before a contractor ever quotes.
Creating a budget
A specification and a realistic budget built from real supplier costs and material choices, not a guess that unravels on site.
Finding the right contractor
We help you source and brief the right builder for this specific project, using our network of Devon trades and specialist suppliers.
Staying involved — or not
From here it's your build. Some clients want us to stay on for oversight through construction; others take it from here with their contractor. Either works.
Greenflow, Totnes
Wall panels built horizontally on the ground, then lifted into place by crane — a sequencing choice that cut weeks off the programme without loosening the airtightness tolerances Passivhaus demands.
See more in the Project Gallery →Only need one room, not a whole house? Our garden studios are built to this same standard, at garden-studio scale and budget.
See garden studios →
Starting to plan a self-build or retrofit?
Tell us about the site, the brief and what stage you're at. Avi reads and replies to every enquiry personally.
Get in touchOr email contactstudiopassive@gmail.com — +44 (0)7907 408028