Hufhaus? A German factory built job but very expensive.
Another 'thing' is a passivhaus. It obviously has a high level of insulation is designed to capture enough heat from solar including via the windows. Easier to execute if it is well away from other buildings because the windows and roof/shading have to be designed to as not to overheat the house in summer - e.g. they will typically have large roof overhangs that will allow low sunlight thorough the windows but not that of the higher midday summer sun.
If you are prepared to do a bit of heating, things get a lot easier in terms of design.
I'm having a pre-application discussion with the local planners. The steer I am getting is that we will have considerable freedom to build what we want provided we consider impact on neighbours but one other rider is that approval is much more likely if it also fits in, as to appearance, with the surrounding houses. Most of them, to my eye, are fairly unattractive and they are a mixture of styles - but they are all fairly conventional boxes. There is still a fair bit of scope, e.g. render v brick, 1/1.5/2 storey, but anything that looks untypical of a rural Hertfordshire village seems to be discouraged. I don't know how much, if at all, that would change if we proposed a passivhaus. That would certainly not resemble any of its neighbours.
Oddly, there have been some houses built locally that are far from conventional. The most recent three look to me like industrial units. But they are not in the middle of a street flanking other houses.
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