Norton Farm

Country
Norton Farm, Birmingham Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Description

Executive summary: The I-House System incorporating Celcon storey height AAC Elements has been specified for use on 164 units on the Norton Farm site in Bromsgrove. The I-House System, a collaboration between Saint-Gobain Roofspace and H+H UK, provides the speed of offsite construction with the familiarity of a traditional build.

Project Description: Norton Farm, located less than a mile from Bromsgrove town centre, south west of Birmingham, is a development consisting of a total of 316 units.  The I-House System is being used for 164 of those plots.

Each unit is constructed by a three-man gang + crane operator from Roofspace. This has solved one of the critical challenges faced by Barratt Homes in the Midlands, with a shortage of skilled labour creating a delay in construction. A crane lifts each Celcon Element into place where is it secured using a fast-setting mortar specifically created by H+H for use with Elements.

By using the I-House System the external brick façade has been taken off the critical path allowing the ground floor, first floor and roof to be completed, finished and wrapped in insulation prior to bricklayers arriving on site. A bespoke scaffolding system has been created to allow bricklayers enough space to operate while the scaffold remains in place.

The walls achieve a U-Value of 0.27W/m2K – similar to that in a traditional build – with roofs achieving 0.08W/m2K and floors 0.2W/m2K.

 

Comments
Contractor comments: Steve Cartwright, Barratt Homes Construction Director West Midlands: “It’s simply one of the best offsite systems we’ve seen. It’s basically blockwork erected in a different way which gives us flexibility on site. If you require any design alterations while on site, you can treat it like a traditional build – if you need an additional window suddenly, you can do it; timber frame can’t be altered due to the structural calculations changing.” H+H comment: Stephen Knight, H+H Internal Development Manager: “The Norton Farm development has been a great opportunity to showcase the speed, quality and performance benefits of the I-House System. We believe that what we have is a package solution for the fast construction of new build homes, something of which the UK housing market is currently in desperate need.”
Start of construction:2017
Completion of construction:Build time: One week per unit
Location of project:Norton Farm, Birmingham Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Market segment:Construction of 194 units with a mixture of one, two and three bed homes in terraced, semi-detached and detached form, of which 98 are to be affordable homes for BDHT.
Type of building:The I-House System incorporating Celcon storey height AAC Elements has been specified for use on 164 units on the Norton Farm site in Bromsgrove. The I-House System, a collaboration between Saint-Gobain Roofspace and H+H UK, provides the speed of offsite construction with the familiarity of a traditional build.
Investor:Barratt Homes
Architect / Project consultant:‘In House Design"
Building contractor:I-House Offsite with Saint-Gobain Roofspace
Brand:Reason for choosing H+H AAC products: The main attraction of the I-House System both on site and for others within the supply chain is that it is very similar to traditional build in its materials and approach so there is no dramatic change to working practices for the follow-on trades. The plumber, electrician and carpenter are all used to seeing aircrete in front of them.
Solution / application:
Products:Products used / AAC specification: Celcon Elements by H+H: The majority of the interior leaves of the cavity walls are constructed using Celcon Elements by H+H. The Celcon Elements are manufactured to the design storey height of a standard house with a width of 600mm and a thickness of 100mm. Where the required width of the modules is less than 600mm or in cases where the Elements are used under windows, the Elements can be cut to size on site. The knock-on effect is of less product waste on site and cleaner work environments. Celcon Elements are lightly reinforced to facilitate the handling and transportation without damaging the product. H+H element mortar: A fast-setting and very strong thin-layer mortar developed especially for use with Celcon Elements to form a 2mm airtight joint. External walls: Designs for the external walls includes both rendered finishes and brick facades. This will provide a mix of styles to meet the needs and aspirations of the local community and blend with the architectural aesthetic within the existing residential areas. Roof: Roofs are either a standard truss roof construction or the ‘Roofspace I-Roof’, a panelised room-in-the-roof system designed for the UK new build residential housing market. The I-Roof by Roofspace is manufactured offsite in a controlled environment making it a faster, cost effective construction. Safety benefits include reduced working at height and the removal of the risk of gable blockwork collapse. Floor: Prefabricated timber I-Floor Joist cassette floors are used in conjunction with the system to maintain the speed of build. Each cassette is lowered into place by crane, sitting on top of the first lift of Celcon Elements.
Special features:•Rapid build speeds •Cost certainty •Health and Safety improved •Increased quality control •Integrated system •Fully managed package – design, manufacture, install •Traditional materials and familiar build process •Improved airtightness

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