Creu Cartref's Idwal Apartment - a closer look.
- alwyn647
- Sep 28, 2025
- 3 min read
When we design homes, we think not just about immediate needs but about how people live and adapt over time. The Idwal Apartment (1B2P, 51 m²) reflects that philosophy — compact, efficient, adaptive, and grounded in standards that future‑proof living.
Designed with People in Mind
Available to download for free and opensource from creucartref.com – Idwal Apartment 1B2P it delivers a well‑balanced home for one or two people. With a 12 m² double bedroom (width 2,990 mm), open living and kitchen areas, and a flexible bathroom, every square metre is purposeful.
Key features include:
• Open‑plan living with good circulation and natural light.
• Adaptable bathroom layout (option for bath or shower).
• Built‑in storage exceeding 1.5 m².
• A knock‑out panel designed to enable future flexibility and direct access between the master bedroom and bathroom as needs evolve.
• A kitchen sized to meet Welsh Government kitchen storage requirements, with at least 1.1 m³ of cupboard capacity for a two‑person home.
Services, Voids & Efficiency
One of the strengths of the Idwal design is how services are arranged for minimal friction and maximal efficiency:
• The Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) cylinder and MVHR unit are located adjacent to external walls. This allows duct runs to be as short and direct as possible, reducing losses and fan energy use.
• Because ducts don’t need to snake across ceilings, there’s less chance of clashes with sprinkler pipes, water supply/distribution, or electrical services.
• The ceiling zones in the bedroom and bathroom remain clear, supporting adaptability and allowing for potential ceiling‑mounted hoist track installation.
• Efficient coordination of services within a compact ceiling void means the void doesn’t need to be deep. That lets us reduce floor‑to‑floor heights, which in turn lowers the overall building height — saving materials, structural cost, and lowering the build envelope.
Construction Strategy & Module Logic
The Idwal Apartment is designed to be flexible in how it’s built — whether by traditional masonry, panelised timber frame, or modular / off‑site methods (along the structural lines schematically shown on the floor plan).
Rather than seeing volumetric modular as the single solution, we lean into industrialised construction through a “kit of parts” approach — a philosophy Creu Cartref has articulated in its blog “Streamlining Construction with Industrialisation: Embracing a Kit of Parts Approach”.
This approach means:• Using a small, repeatable palette of room modules (for kitchen, living, bathroom, bedroom, etc.) that interlock across designs.• Configuring these modules so they can be used whether built traditionally, in panels, or as full volumetric modules.• Avoiding a “volumetric modular is the answer” assumption — because that method only makes sense at scale, with standardisation and minimal transport/assembly complexity.
By embedding that flexibility, Idwal can adapt to different procurement, site constraints or sustainability goals — without over-committing to one delivery method.
Lifetime Homes (Selective Criteria)
• Door widths — 871 mm clear — meet accessibility guidance.
• The knock‑out panel is specifically placed to support future bedroom–bathroom access
• Bathroom layout supports either bath or shower with adaptability.
• Hoist ceiling zones kept clear for potential future installation.
Welsh Development Quality Requirements (WDQR, Beautiful Homes and Places)
• GIA: 51 m² ≥ 50 m² minimum.
• Bedroom size & width: 12 m², width 2,990 mm (meets threshold).
• Storage: built‑in provision exceeds 1.5 m².
• Kitchen: meets required 1.1 m³ cupboard storage for 2 persons.
• Flexibility and performance expectations maintained.
Approved Document M (Wales, 2025)
• Circulation: doorways and corridors sized to satisfy (871 mm clear doors etc.).
• Entrance‑storey WC present.
• Controls planned between 450–1,200 mm AFFL.
• No structural ceiling encumbrances hamper access or adaptation.
Why It Matters
Design that complies is good — design that anticipates change is better. With the Idwal apartment we achieve:
• Beauty & proportion through considered layouts.
• Adaptability via the knock‑out panel and hoist ceiling zones.
• Efficiency & cost control by minimizing service runs and reducing building heights.
• Delivery flexibility through a kit of parts mindset, enabling multiple construction routes without locking into a single method.
• Longer lifetime usability to align with people’s changing needs.
The Idwal Apartment is intent with purpose — not just a home, but a living framework that can grow, adapt, and endure.
This apartment embodies our commitment to creating homes that are functional, graceful, and future‑ready.
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