Architect Hugh Wallace's Retrofit Done Right

Hugh Wallace, an award-winning architect with a passion for creative design and the restoration of Irish architectural heritage; from the humble farm buildings to grand houses, evident from his participation on RTÉ’s Great House Revival, is now taking on the momentous project of retrofitting his own home.  

Situated in the city center of Dublin, Hugh and partner Martin purchased this two-story terrace house with the dream of transforming it into their perfect home. Although, upon initial inspection the house looked fine structurally, once they got in and began working on the property, it became apparent that it wasn't and the decision to demolish the internal structure and rebuild was made.  

With the overwhelming freedom and difficulty that comes with prioritising when designing for oneself and the pressure to make his home just right, Hugh looked for easy, reliable and effective solutions where he could.  

This project involved a deep retrofit of the home, focusing on dramatically improving energy efficiency, comfort and long-term sustainability. The process began with a significant upgrade to the insulation of both the walls and roof, substantially improving thermal performance. Old windows and doors were replaced with high-performance, insulated, air-tight frames to prevent heat loss in winter and minimise unwanted heat gain in summer. To deliver consistent comfort throughout the home, Hugh specified a combination of underfloor heating on the ground floor and radiators upstairs. 

However, for Hugh, the retrofit wasn’t just about improving insulation and airtightness, it was about rethinking how the home breathes and stays warm. Two systems came together to provide the complete solution: a Mitsubishi Electric Ecodan heat pump system and a Lossnay Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) unit. 

Ventilation: Lossnay Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery System.

The next step was to figure out the perfect ventilation system for the home. Enter: Mitsubishi Electric’s Lossnay Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery unit. The Lossnay range is particularly suitable for modern homes with high insulation due to double glazing and cavity insulation. Often ventilation is required to remove stale air without major heat loss and ensure effective fresh air ventilation. A domestic heat recovery ventilation unit is a heating system replaces moist, stale air with fresh, filtered air.  

“I’m installing a Mitsubishi Electric heat recovery system, which is so important when you’re doing a major refurbishment because you must introduce circulated air,” Hugh explained. “It reduces damp and mould and reduces condensation. It also reduces your heating bill, because you’re taking the heat out of your kitchen, out of your bathrooms, filtering it, and reintroducing it back into the house”. 

Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery unit is an energy efficient solution for the whole house and provides a clean, supply of fresh air. A Mitsubishi Electric Lossnay Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) system simultaneously extracts stale air whilst recovering heat energy to maximise efficiency and minimise energy use. This means that although the stale air is replaced with fresh air, the indoor temperature of the home is maintained. 

For Hugh and Martin, the retrofit was about more than cutting costs, it was about future-proofing their home with comfort and reliability at its core. “Energy efficiency is just amazing particularly in this day and age because it will actually value your property going forward. To me that was essential, that Martin and I were able to take control of the cost of heating our home” says Hugh. The Mitsubishi Electric Ecodan heat pump and Lossnay heat recovery system have helped deliver exactly that. Hugh goes on to say that a homeowner "must be comfortable that the technology [they’re] using is going to work not only in the short term but also in the long term".  

By combining improved insulation with high-performance heating and ventilation, Hugh has prepped his home to have reduced running costs. As the Ecodan heat pump uses just 1kW of electricity to draw 3kW of renewable energy from the air, producing 4kW of heat output, Hugh will be able to cut down on his bills while protecting against rising energy prices. At the same time, the system will completely transform the feel of the home. “The comfort factor is just amazing, it’s this constant level of heat,” Hugh explained, noting how a heat pump upgrade creates a stable, healthy indoor environment. 

The practicality of the system was another unexpected advantage. Unlike traditional boilers that require a plant room, the Ecodan heat pump fits into a space no bigger than a refrigerator. As Hugh puts it: “But you know what I love—I know this is really odd—I love the indoor unit because it’s like a fridge. It’s clean. It’s neat. It’s just wonderful.” 

Anthony Farrell, Engineering Team Lead at Electric Ireland Superhomes summaries all of this simply; "There are multiple benefits really, like obviously you're looking at reducing energy costs, cleaner use from an air to water heat pump is coming from electricity rather than a fossil fuel like oil or gas and it's comfort as well, a lot of homeowners will come back with the comfort element at the end". 

For Hugh and Martin, the results are clear: lower costs, consistent comfort and a compact design that makes the technology as practical as it is efficient. Hugh champions it as “a brilliant solution for older houses that are getting a deep retrofit”