STA MEMBER Kingspan Timber Solutions

CLIENT Barratt Homes

ARCHITECT HTA Design

MAIN CONTRACTOR Barratt Homes

PARTNER Homes & Communities Agency

TECHNOLOGY Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS)

Hanham HallAward Winning Eco Village

This groundbreaking project is the first site in the government’s Carbon Challenge initiative

and is designed to test the Code for Sustainable Homes to its highest performance criteria –

Code Level 6.

The Code for Sustainable Homes is the national standard for the sustainable design and

construction of new homes. It aims to reduce carbon emissions and promote higher standards

of sustainable design above the current minimum standards set out by the building regulations.

IntroductionTo meet the challenges of this demanding brief, the client, Barratt Homes and Architects HTA engaged with the Parish Council, the Homes and Communities

Agency, English Heritage, South Gloucestershire Council, the Green Belt Society and local residents. As key member of the supply chain Kingspan Timber

Solutions were involved with the project from day one.

Scheduled to become one of the first zero carbon communities in England - 187 new homes were proposed in the grounds of Hanham Hall – a Grade II* listed

building which will be totally restored and transformed to become a community hall and facilities, with a cafe and offices. Green open spaces are a key feature of

the development, with allotments, orchards, hedges, ponds, cycle and walking routes.

The challenge

The most significant challenge at the Hanham Hall development was to design a scheme to meet the stringent requirements of Code Level 6 whilst being

acceptable to all stakeholders – hence the structured engagement programme with the wide range of interested parties. The complex brief demanded a

comprehensive approach and also the requirement for the refurbishment of the Grade II* listed Hall.

The project is set to become the benchmark for sustainable housing development by:

• Using cutting edge building technology

• Meeting the projected 2016 Zero-Carbon targets

• Developing an innovative community management structure

• Setting up a development trust

• Integrating existing ecology and landscape

• Delivering green spaces - allotments and an orchard

• Sustainably refurbishing an historic building

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Quality Assured With an excellent 50 year track record, Kingspan Timber Solutions (KTS) is the UK’s leading manufacturer of quality timber-based structural systems. Delivering

an extensive range of high performance energy efficient solutions - KTS are dedicated to working in partnership with clients to find the best solutions possible to

deliver high quality, low carbon projects for and on behalf of a wide range of clients in the housing and commercial sectors throughout the UK.

For the Hanham Hall project the construction partners worked seamlessly to ensure that the latest technologies were used in the most effective and practical way.

Prototype units were constructed by Barratts and tested by Oxford Brooks University for compliance with all the demanding standards. These tests included sound,

airtightness and co-heating tests. The prototypes passed with flying colours and some of the new homes will be monitored for up to two years to assess their

performance in use.

The objective was to exceed the current UK building regulations standard for the homes and the historic listed building will be refurbished to the highest UK

sustainable office standard for reuse as a community and employment facility.

The building envelope was constructed using Kingspan’s patented TEK® prefabricated structural insulated panels (SIPS). SIPS are an advanced method of

construction, offering superior insulation, structural strength and air-tightness over traditional construction methods or systems. SIP panels are used primarily

in wall and roof applications for residential, industrial, educational and commercial applications, providing energy efficient building structures with proven

sustainability credentials.

The Kingspan TEK® Building System comprises 142 mm thick structural insulated panels connected with a unique jointing system for walls and roofs, and

intermediate floors using I-beams or open web joists. The panels consist of a high performance rigid urethane insulation core, manufactured with a blowing agent

that has zero Ozone Depletion Potential and low Global Warming Potential. The core is sandwiched between two layers of 15mm oriented strand board (OSB) – the

structural system can achieve:

• Whole wall and roof U-values of 0.21 - 0.10 W/m2K or better

• Air leakage levels as good as approximately 1 m3/hour/m2 at 50Pa - Pascals of pressure

During manufacture, the insulation core of Kingspan TEK® Building the system panels is

autohesively bonded to the OSB3 facings. This process provides more reliable and superior

adhesion than the secondary bonding process used in the manufacture of most other SIPS.

The Kingspan TEK® Building System is recognised by the major building warranty providers

such as NHBC, Building Life Plans and Premier Guarantee, and the System also holds

BBA Certification - BBA Certificate 02/S029.

Zero Energy Design In addition to Kingspan’s patented TEK® prefabricated structural insulated panels, every property at Hanham Hall has high performance timber windows and

insulated doors, designed to allow residents to reduce their carbon footprint by 60 percent without any lifestyle changes.

A combination of excellent building fabric, gas boilers and photovoltaic panels enables the scheme to meet the latest definition of Zero Carbon. The thermal mass

of the ground floor slabs and wall linings, together with night-time mechanical ventilation, keeps the buildings cool in summer.

Rainwater harvesting provides enough water to supply the washing machines and WCs, helping to reduce potable water use to 80 litres per person per day, whilst

bike and recycling storage in each unit, encourages residents to adopt a greener way of life.

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Open Plan Living

There is a tight relationship between performance levels and the design of the properties. Each house-type has a flexible plan, allowing the design team to rotate

the living spaces to achieve maximum daylight whether the building is orientated predominantly east–west or north–south.

The living rooms open onto generous balconies and verandas, shaded by moveable screens. These spaces are an important link between both the inside and

outside of individual dwellings and the private and public realms. Overlooking the shared gardens and amenity spaces, they create a sense of community,

sociability and safety.

Location

Located 7km from the centre of Bristol, this nine-hectare site is bordered by suburban housing to the north, south and west. To the east, it adjoins the green belt,

enjoying open views of rolling countryside.

The Hall itself is a Grade II* listed building dating from the mid-17th century. Originally a farm and substantial family home surrounded by extensive gardens and

open land, it became a psychiatric hospital in around 1900. Since the hospital closed in 2000, the Hall was left unoccupied and fell into disrepair until its recent

transformation.

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Positive Outcomes Expert Comment: Rory Bergin, Head of Sustainability, HTA

These new homes are ground breaking - they are only the second to meet the new definition of

Zero Carbon for energy but also meet all other requirements for Code Level 6 performance.

To deliver this, the focus was on getting the building fabric highly insulated and airtight. The fact

that Kingspan Timber Solutions take responsibility for delivering the technical performance of the

building made it possible for us to ensure that the client got the performance they required.

We chose Kingspan Timber Solutions because of their experience with the Kingspan Lighthouse

and since the project began in 2007 there has been a great working relationship between HTA,

Barratts and Kingspan.

Our sustainability team worked with Kingspan’s technical experts to assess the SAP1 calculations

from an early stage. It was essential to ensure that the scheme neither under delivered nor over

delivered as over performance wastes the client’s money.

Code Level 6 requires high levels of building fabric and environmental performance. The Kingspan

TEK® Building System is the best known high performance SIPS product in the market place and

one of the key benefits about this system is that it facilitates freedom of design. As such, we could

design in large openings creating a sense of space without compromising on performance.

Building a sustainable community means creating a place where people want to build their lives,

where they feel safe and comfortable, and where they are inspired to live harmoniously with their

environment.

Designing such a community is a complex process; the underlying design approach needs to be

holistic and based on a dynamic collaboration between the developer, the design team, the

technical experts, local government and local people.

Note 1 - The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the methodology used by the Government to assess and compare the energy and environmental performance of dwellings. Its purpose is to provide accurate and reliable assessments of dwelling energy performances that are needed to underpin energy and environmental policy initiatives.

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Award WinningHanham Hall is an award winning eco village and is now one of the most important energy efficient new housing developments in the UK. The development has

become a recognised benchmark for future schemes.

The ambition was to create a place that would be attractive to all kinds of people: sustainable housing that would ‘fly off the shelf.’

Ranging from one-bedroom starter flats to five-bedroom family houses, two thirds of the units are being sold privately, while the rest have been offered for

affordable rent. Not surprisingly, Hanham Hall represents Barratts’ largest database of interested buyers. Each home has built-in features that reduce water

usage and energy consumption so that homeowners can easily keep waste to a minimum.

Hanham Hall is an outstanding project which demonstrates how new housing developments can be built to the exacting and highest standards of the Code for

Sustainable Homes whilst remaining attractive places to live and cost-effective for the developer to build. This 21st century village sits in beautifully landscaped

grounds with the refurbished Grade II* listed Hanham Hall, as the centre piece of the development.

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Eltisley Road Great Gransden Bedfordshire SG19 3AR

t: 01767 676400 f: 01767 676444info@kingspantimbersolutions.co.ukwww.kingspantimbersolutions.co.uk

DCCS-02/2014

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