Building
materials distribution
Saint-Gobain Isover - Isover helps insulate Macbryde Homes for Part E
A small change in construction methods using a Robust
Detail-approved insulation system from Saint-Gobain Isover is
enabling regional housebuilder Macbryde Homes to finish
developments days ahead of schedule.
North Wales-based Macbryde Homes first used Isover’s RD35 system
last year on its Amberley Park and Gannock Mews developments in
Prestatyn and Deganwy respectively. Now it is their standard
method for party wall construction.
Amberley Park is a development of 44 townhouses and detached
homes and Gannock Mews a terrace of eight three-storey
townhouses, for which Macbryde Homes won a LABC North Wales
Building Award in recognition of their high standard of
construction and workmanship.
Isover’s RD35 will also be used at Fairways Park, Rhos on Sea
(91 apartments and townhouses for first-time buyers) which has
just started and on Marl Farm at Llandudno Junction (142
apartments, townhouses and detached homes) which is due to start
later this year.
Macbryde’s design director Ian Hornby specified Isover RD35 from
distributor Sheffield Insulations because it reduced their
reliance on wet trade work (the render coat to the blockwork of
the party wall) and negated the need for the pre-completion
sound testing normally required under current Building
Regulations.
“In addition, when using a scratch coat we would have to wait
for this to dry out before we could apply the drylining and this
could take several days,” he said.
“The render coat could also not be applied when the temperature
was very cold. Isover’s RD35 system can be installed in all
temperatures, in a fraction of the time a parge coat takes, and
without the mess and labour involved when using wet cement. And
because it’s manufactured from 80% recycled material, it’s
vastly more environmentally friendly than cement.”
Saint-Gobain Isover launched its RD35 system as a response to
the requirements of the new Part E Building Regulations which
required a Robust Detail–approved system to avoid pre-completion
testing.
However, all seven previous Robust Detail masonry party wall
constructions forced housebuilders to revert to a wet trade
internal wall lining, generally involving sand and cement, from
the plasterboard-on-dabs method which had been their preferred
one for years.
Isover RD35 high-performance acoustic slabs are positioned in
the party wall cavity in conjunction with plasterboard-on-dabs
drylining, allowing housebuilders to revert to their preferred
method of construction.
It is the only Robust Detail-approved alternative to
cement-based solutions As such, it has attracted more than
10,000 plot registrations to date but Macbryde Homes is one of
the first developers to complete with it.
Macbryde Homes have operated in North Wales and the north-west
for more than 25 years, combining a traditional, family-run
approach with forward-thinking ideas such as the use of Isover
RD35. Particularly notable previous developments include The
Waterfront at Liverpool’s Albert Dock and Slate Wharf in
Manchester.
Email:
tracy@tlcpr.co.uk