Three blocks of flats, containing 270 homes, in Glasgow have been given a new lease of life thanks to a unique Structural External Wall Insulation (SEWI) system from housing specialists Structherm.
The trio of 16 storey high rise buildings, West Court, Clyde Court and Park Court, all at Littleholm Place in Dalmuir, Clydebank, were all found to be in need of significant improvement following a survey commissioned by West Dunbartonshire Council.
The council hired contractors Lovell in October 2014 to install Structherm’s structural insulated overcladding system to the buildings’ upper walls and insulated brick slip cladding to the ground-floor walls, as part of a £4.8m program of work which has improved robustness against structural decay, energy efficiency, and the overall external appearance of the buildings.
Finishing touches are now being made to this transformation project, which took place while tenants remained in their homes, minimising disruption, and has meant the life of the properties has now been considerably extended.
Janicke Aitken, General Manager of Structherm, said; “At 11,000m2 this was one of the largest installations we have undertaken in recent years, and we have been working hard with the council and contractors over the last 2 years to ensure that all three blocks are given a new lease of life and the structural integrity and thermal performance are upgraded to meet current Scottish Building Regulations”.
The existing structure consisted thin concrete panels fixed into the concrete frame by rebar that had been showing signs of corrosion causing the panels to become loose. A standard External Wall Insulation system was ruled out because of the inability of the existing concrete panels to take the additional load without the need for first having to remove each panel and inspect and repair them which would have been costly and potentially hazardous.
The SEWI system was able to secure these panels by spanning from floor slab to floor slab and fixing into the loadbearing frame thereby providing a safer, faster and cheaper solution.
On the ground floors of the buildings, Structherm’s Wonderwall, an insulated real brick slip cladding system, was chosen because of its robustness and impact resistant properties, along with its attractive traditional appearance.
The same SEWI system from Structherm, recently installed at residential blocks of flats in Worcester, received a national award for the best refurbishment of its kind at the Insulated Render & Cladding Association (INCA) Awards last week, further underlining the system’s quality and reliability.
Structherm is the only provider of a structural external wall insulation system, and with over 30 years’ experience in treating varying property types, including metal frame, timber frame, in-situ and pre-cast concrete, Structherm has built up a wealth of technical knowledge and provides a comprehensive range of EWI systems.
