External Wall Insulation - PermaRock
Name: Pembury Place Hackney
Client: The Peabody Trust
Specifier: Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects
Substrate: Blockwork
System: PermaRock Mineral Fibre Insulated Render System
Finish: PermaRock Acrylic K1.5mm Finish
The Project:
A recent development on the Pembury Estate, Hackney, has created a bold, striking building for the Peabody Trust and has utilised the latest in fire-safe and environmentally friendly façade products.
Designed by Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects, Pembury Place is a scheme consisting of 31 shared-ownership residential units on a former construction site in Hackney, and involved the demolition of the existing buildings on the site to create the new residential accommodation. The development's aim was to act as a bold statement and provide a focal point to the estate, whilst providing an excellent example of a new-build social housing development.
One of the main considerations which the specifier had to take into account was the fire-performance of the building, especially with its close proximity to the surrounding buildings. The PermaRock Mineral Fibre Insulated Render System provided an ideal solution due to its excellent fire-resistant properties. The Mineral Fibre insulation is an inert material that is non-combustible and therefore it does not encourage fire spread. The system requires no additional fire breaks, unlike foam plastics such as expanded polystyrene, when used above two storeys.
The insulation is also environmentally sound; the insulant comprises of natural materials and does not contain CFCs or HCFCs within its composition. PermaRock insulated render systems can deliver significant environmental benefits by reducing heating demand and heat energy losses through their design, thereby reducing national CO2 emissions that contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
PermaRock systems are included on the recently launched BRE website, www.GreenBookLive.com, a free online database designed to help specifiers and end users identify products and services that can help to reduce their impact on the environment.
PermaRock provided various mineral fibre insulation thicknesses (ranging from 50mm to 140mm) on Pembury Place, achieving U-values of 0.30 W/m²k onto the blockwork substrate. In addition to the use of insulated render, the client also incorporated deep balconies with full height glazing, protected by mesh screens, to help balance the conflict between the need for openness, daylight /air and overlooking on this narrow site.
Aesthetically, the use of PermaRock's K 1.5mm acrylic through-coloured render, in two contrasting colours (red and dark grey), provided the architect with an opportunity to use strong, bold colours to produce a visually inspiring building. PermaRock acrylic textured renders are high performance, siloxane reinforced, acrylic decorative through-colour renders for use on external and internal surfaces and come in a standard range of over 1400 colours. The range offers the building designer an unprecedented choice of colour and texture combinations for external facade finishes.
Pembury Place has provided a new focus to the residential estate. The use of the insulated render system enabled all the fire performance and thermal requirements of the client to be met whilst also enabling the unique design of the building to be achievable. It has produced a shining example of what residential accommodation can be provided for the new build social housing sector.
Commended in the Housing Design Awards 2005
