Rå Build system aids Cotswold ecohome project

H+H UK’s Rå Build system is making a major contribution to the success of an ecohome project in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

Fred Salter is a specialist, quality housebuilder who builds individual or small groups of homes.  On a site at Lea, near Malmesbury he is building five traditional Cotswold stone houses, making use of the very latest in eco-friendly construction techniques to provide homes that will be light on the planet.

Four of the homes are four-bedroom and the fifth three bedrooms, each with two en-suite bathrooms and a warm roof which buyers can adapt as a fifth bedroom or home office.  The Rå Build system was chosen for the shell of each home. This uses Celcon aircrete blocks with the Thin-Joint system for the interior skin of the external wall and for internal walls, the Celcon Flooring System at ground floor with proprietary intermediate floors and roofs.  The Rå Build system was chosen for its speed of construction, combined with excellent thermal insulation.  Once the shell has been completed, first fix trades can start inside the house while the external cladding is still going up.

Other ‘green’ features include ground source heat pumps to provide heating.  This has been combined with a heat recovery system, which extracts steam and smells while heat is retained and recycled.  There are insulated floors with underfloor heating and a warm roof with Kingspan insulation between the rafters.  Pilkington K glass is used in the double-glazing.  A rainwater harvesting system provides water for flushing the toilets, washing and watering the garden.

Comments Fred, who has already moved into the first house to be completed with his wife: “There is no doubt in my mind that we have to build more eco-friendly homes and the interest we have had in this development I think shows the level of public interest.  We have been very impressed by H+H UK’s Rå Build system.  It is very fast and provides excellent thermal insulation.  I would certainly use it again. It’s also very flexible; with Rå Build, if you want to move the position of a window or door you can, but with timber frame you can’t alter the frame once it’s been manufactured.”

Fred Salter’s eco-friendly development has attracted the attention of The Guardian, the Western Daily Press and several local newspapers. He has had more than 70 telephone calls and expressions of interest from potential buyers and expects the homes to sell before the development is completed in summer 2008.

Links: Thin joint case studies