Dowls & Aira: Meadow View Development
Development details:
- 10 individually designed new-build homes
- Three- and four-bedroom properties
- A mix of detached and semi-detached homes
- Each with its own layout and bathroom configuration
- Prices from £575,000
Property developer Dowls was founded by David Hewitt and his uncle, working alongside Andrew and John Robinson. Together, they set out to build homes they’d be proud to live in themselves.
That meant underfloor heating, real wood and technology designed for the future. Homes that didn’t simply scrape through Building Regulations, but sailed through them. No cookie-cutter homes. No soulless white boxes.
Heat pumps and EV chargers were part of that vision from day one. At Meadow View, it all came together with Aira.
The installation at a glance
Location: Meadow View, Tarbock Green, Liverpool
What we installed in each home:
- Aira Heat Pump (6kW)
- Aira Indoor Unit (250L)
- Buffer Tank (40L)
- Aira Thermostat
- Underfloor heating
Each unit individually specified and positioned to suit the home.
The project
David and the Dowls team had already decided that renewable energy was non-negotiable at Meadow View. On a previous project, a client had insisted on gas boilers and traditional hot-water tanks for a multimillion-pound home, and it hadn’t sat right. As David saw it, if you’re building a home of that standard, it should be ready for the future too.
Dowls’ health and safety officer, John, already had a heat pump at home. His experience helped settle any remaining doubts about leaving gas behind.
“He couldn’t have sold it to me any better," David explained. "All the negative stories you hear – he told me straight that they’re not true. That’s what sent us looking properly, and that’s how we found Aira."
But performance wasn’t the only consideration. The technology needed to look as carefully chosen as everything around it.
The Meadow View homes have a traditional, village feel rather than looking like typical new builds. So David wanted a heat pump that wouldn’t feel like an awkward box added at the end. With its clean Scandinavian design and distinctive finish, the Aira Heat Pump system looked at home both inside and outside the properties.
It would be simple for buyers to live with too. Through the Aira Home Energy app, they could control their heating and hot water, wherever they were with ease.
And with Aira’s fully integrated model, David had the one-stop shop he was looking for. We would design a system around each individual home, manage the installation and stay on hand long after everything was switched on.
Our solution
Ten homes. Each with its own layout. So we designed ten heating systems – not one system copied ten times.
Our Clean Energy Designers worked from the plans for each property, tailoring the system around its size, layout and heating needs. Every home included a 6kW Aira Heat Pump, a 250L Aira Indoor Unit, a 40L buffer tank and an Aira Thermostat.
The core equipment was consistent. How it fitted into each home wasn’t. Every system was individually configured and positioned to work with the property’s design, while keeping the technology looking as considered as the home around it.
Once work began, our installation team coordinated closely with Dowls through the first fix, second fix and commissioning of all 10 properties. This helped keep each installation moving alongside the wider construction schedule, and kept the development on track.
David also had a direct line to his Aira contact whenever something came up.
As Fred Cappelen, Aira UK Sales Manager, explains: "A strong partnership is essential on a project like this. There are multiple moving parts, deadlines to meet and plenty of organisation involved. Having one team covering the project from design to commissioning reduces that complexity and gives our partners one clear point of contact throughout."
David's verdict
"We don't like building your typical new-build house – the white box that just about meets building standards. We want underfloor heating, real wood, air source heat pumps, EV car chargers – things that are genuinely future-proofed. Aira matched that MO perfectly.
The look of the system mattered to us. These are cottage-style homes, so nothing about a heat pump was ever going to blend in without thought, but Aira looks better than anything else on the market, and the tech is as simple as using an iPhone. The outdoor units fade into the background, and you almost don't notice them against the house.
Beyond the product, it's the relationship that's made the biggest difference. I can pick up the phone to Fred at 10 p.m. if there's an issue, and I've no doubt he'd answer. That's invaluable on a building site. We're not looking to split our work across lots of suppliers to chase the lowest price – we want one point of contact we can build a relationship with. Sometimes that's not the cheapest way, but it's far fewer headaches, and you know exactly what you're getting.
The Future Homes Standard is due to come into force in 2027, and we’re proud to be getting ahead of this by building new homes with efficient, low-carbon heating solutions. If I were talking to another developer about sourcing a heat pump partner, I'd just give them Aira’s number."
No more multiple contractors. No more compliance guesswork.
From system design and compliance paperwork to installation, commissioning and aftercare, we handle it all under one roof. We work around your build schedule and tailor every system to the home it will heat. One expert team. One point of contact. Just the way it should be.
Once your buyers move in, we’ll show them how everything works and support them directly. The Aira Guarantee is included free for the first year too. So if something goes wrong after handover, they come to us. Not back to you.