Leading housebuilder, Northstone, has completed its first fully sustainable nine74 home at its Tulach development in Wigan, marking a major milestone in the housebuilder’s commitment to delivering low-carbon, future-ready homes.
Plot 241 at Tulach is the first Northstone home to combine Wondrwall’s AI-powered Home Energy Management System (HEMS) with Ultrapanel Building Technologies’ thermally enhanced panelised construction system, creating a highly energy-efficient, net-zero-capable home built using Modern Methods of Construction.
At the heart of the nine74 home is Wondrwall, an AI-enabled HEMS that learns how residents live and automatically manages heating, lighting and energy use to maximise comfort while reducing waste and cost.
Installed as part of a fully integrated, net-zero-capable setup, Wondrwall seamlessly connects smart lighting, heating, hot water, security, EV charging, solar PV generation and battery storage. All systems are optimised through a single intuitive app, creating a cohesive and responsive living environment that adapts to each resident.
Using sensors built into Wondrwall light switches throughout the home, the system learns occupancy patterns in real time. Heating and power are delivered only when and where needed; warming the home when residents return, switching off unused systems and ensuring energy is always used at the most cost-effective time.
By reducing energy use in unoccupied spaces and optimising how solar, heating and hot water systems work together, Wondrwall helps lower household energy costs. Paired with Tulach’s energy-efficient design, the system enhances the home’s net-zero performance, supported by infrared heating, an integrated heat-pump hot water cylinder, high-performance solar panels and battery storage.
Beyond improved energy efficiency, Wondrwall also delivers a future-ready living experience, combining intelligent hands-free lighting control, security and entertainment with premium SONOS audio, all seamlessly controlled through the Wondrwall app.
The nine74 home is also the result of a close collaboration between Northstone and Ultrapanel, bringing together a shared ambition to redefine how sustainable homes are built in the UK.
Using Ultrapanel’s factory-built, precision-engineered wall and roof systems, the home achieves exceptional thermal performance, with walls and roofs delivering U-values as low as 0.09 W/m²K. The highly insulated, airtight envelope plays a key role in achieving near-Passivhaus performance and an EPC ‘A’ rating of 106.
Manufactured offsite and delivered on a just-in-time basis, the panelised components were installed in days rather than weeks. Large prefabricated wall cassettes were craned into position with pinpoint accuracy, followed by intermediate floors and warm roof components, demonstrating how MMC can dramatically improve build speed, quality and consistency on live developments.
Northstone believes the nine74 home at Tulach served as both a technical achievement and a learning project, identifying further efficiencies for future MMC delivery, including simplified sole plate systems, integrated lifting points and advanced roof cassette solutions.
For Northstone, the project proves that highly energy-efficient, technology-led homes can be delivered at scale without compromising on design or quality. For Ultrapanel, it marks a major step forward in bringing thermally enhanced, panelised housing into the mainstream UK market.
Richard O’Brien, Design Director at Northstone said:
“This first sustainable nine74 home at Tulach represents a significant step forward for Northstone. By combining Ultrapanel’s MMC system with Wondrwall’s intelligent energy management, we’ve created a home that delivers genuine comfort, lower running costs and outstanding sustainability.
“This home brings to life our conceptual vision to design homes that look confidently to the future while remaining grounded in build quality and performance. By integrating intelligent energy technology with advanced construction systems, Northstone is demonstrating how forward-thinking design and future methods of construction can work hand in hand. The result is a new generation of housetypes where innovation is not an add-on, but an integral part of how homes are conceived, built and lived in. We are really showcasing how technology and modern construction can be intertwined to create something genuinely special and it’s a powerful demonstration of what the future of housebuilding can, and should, look like.”
The completion of Plot 241 at Tulach underlines Northstone’s ambition to lead the way in smarter, greener residential development, setting a new benchmark for sustainable living across its future communities.
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