We wanted to share our learning at Ecopark with as many people as possible right from the outset. The idea grew to include a naked house - a specially-presented show home with many of the eco features exposed to view - as we noted that many innovative schemes once completed do not enable visitors' to see how the properties were constructed or what features they contain.

We have tried to make the exhibition interactive, interesting and fun. Some of the displays are oriented towards schoolchildren, some at housing professionals and some at everyone. The most important aim for the exhibition is to educate without preaching. We believe we have achieved this, and hope you will agree.

We realise that the exhibition contains a great deal of information which needs to be communicated in a relatively short space of time, so we have created an information resource booklet that can be taken away and studied in depth.

In the naked house you can pull out a section of the wall and see how it's constructed. You can see our separated waste bins, see the finish provided by water-based paints, experience under-floor heating installations, walk through a sunspace and touch a solar collector. You can try a spray tap to see if its 50% reduction in water usage makes any difference to how you use it, and enlighten yourself on low-energy light fittings and the
multiple ways in which they reduce waste. We've installed grey water recycling in the naked house too, although this is the one feature not present in the rest of the scheme. We considered that our other water saving measures already made a significant contribution to sustainability, but we wanted to find out how this feature performs, so we will monitor its effectiveness once the naked is occupied.

The naked house is an attempt to share our knowledge through physical demonstration. While we are committed to producing technical reports and data that will be of use to other designers and RSLs, we also want to promote awareness and discussion. A walk around the naked house does just that, and hopefully it'll do it in an interesting and enjoyable way.

Getting to Ecopark by Public Transport:

Direct trains run from London Bridge, Cannon Street and Charing Cross to Woolwich Arsenal. Take the 244 or 380 bus from Woolwich Arsenal bus terminal to Merbury Road. Buses run every 5 - 10 minutes Monday to Friday. Bus journey time is approximately 15 minutes Ecopark is a 5 minute walk from the bus stop down Merbury Road and right onto Miles Drive.

For more information please contact Sundeep Pawar, Sustainability Manager on 020 8320 3479 or via email at spawar@gallionsha.co.uk