Beattie Passive simplifies the delivery of Passivhaus, the gold standard of energy efficient buildings, and specialises in high quality, energy efficient and healthy homes for all
The team on site finished cutting off the concrete balconies early last week. The residents will be getting all new balconies as part of the TCosy construction process.
The temporary scaffolding on the front has since been removed in preparation for the permanent scaffolding to be erected.
Meanwhile the permanent scaffolding at the back of the building has now been completed, and the team can now start work on installing the brackets on the wall which will end up supporting the external cladding. The existing insulated layer on the ground floor has now also been completely removed.
The Beattie Passive team were happy to start work on site at King’s Street this week and get stuck in to the retrofit project! We’ve been able to make a lot of good progress on the initial site preparation works.
After clearing away vegetation and other obstacles, the groundwork has begun. We have finished digging the trench around the properties to be retrofitted, this will allow us to extend the Beattie Passive TCosyTM retrofit system down to the foundations underground. This is a key part of the TCosyTM system and enables us to eliminate thermal bridges around the base of the building.
A thermal bridge occurs where there is a discontinuity in the insulation layer and acts as a highway for heat escaping your home and can lead to cold spots or mould growth inside the property. Most external wall insulation stops above ground level, leaving a cold bridge under the brickwork. The TCosyTM system, by extending below ground, eliminates the possibility of these thermal bridges occurring.
We have also started removing the existing additional external cladding and the existing insulated layer in preparation for installing our own TCosyTM system.
During the week, the scaffolding was erected to the rear of the property to enable access for the team to be able to start cutting out the concrete balconies on the properties. We’re hoping to have them completely removed by the end of this week.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is supporting innovation in the build environment through providing grants for innovation in energy efficiency. This retrofit project, which is part-funded by a grant from BEIS is enabling this collaboration to come together, with the aim to trial a new innovation from Beattie Passive Retrofit and accelerate the scale up and bridge the gap to market of an innovative low carbon retrofit solution (the Beattie Passive technology).
The project consortium is made up of the following partners:
Beattie Passive
Oxford Brookes University
Design Buro
Enhabit
One of our most difficult projects to date, the King Street retrofit in Great Yarmouth will be undertaken on a block of six council flats. This block was chosen due to its traditional 1950s style terrace, and thus any solutions to the challenges presented by this project will be able to be rolled out across the country more widely.
So what are the main challenges?
This is to be carried out on terrace style flats, and so the way that the newly retrofitted structure will interact with the neighbouring properties will most likely require further innovation for this detail to be a success
How to deal with the existing balconies on each flat – can our systems incorporate them into the new design, or will they have to be removed?
We want the design to be aesthetically outstanding, to showcase our vision for the future of housing in Great Yarmouth.
The project aims to produce a fast, efficient and cost-effective solution to deep retrofit. The basic objective is to produce a super insulated envelope to the building, in which the thermal bridges can be addressed. It must also be non-invasive to the tenants, allowing them to remain at home with as little disturbance as possible.
New triple-glazed windows will be installed within the cladding system, along with an individual Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) system for each flat, to maximise the benefit of the retrofit with regards to achieving target CO2 and energy bill reductions – the retrofit must be capable of achieving at least a 75% reduction in space heating requirements, with the aim being to design a system that can achieve the Passivhaus retrofit standard (EnerPHit), meeting a space heating demand of 25 kWh/m2 annum and an air tightness of less than 1 ach-1 @50Pa.
Following the tragedy at Grenfell, fire engineering will be a high priority. We will be moving away from using combustible materials and the design may involve an innovative integrated low flow sprinkler system that can be activated by the fire brigade which cools down the cladding system sufficiently in the event of a fire.
Work on the retrofit is scheduled to begin in the first week of August, and you will be able to see weekly updates on the status of the project, and more information about the details of the build here as the project develops.
Our vision for the finished retrofit
Full design flexibility – from Self Build to Social Housing
The Beattie Passive system has no limitations, whatever the build project’s size, style, shape and finish you want to achieve. We take your architect’s plans and provide a design technology that simplifies the delivery of Passivhaus, with significant cost, time, health and environmental benefits for all.
