The CREO apartments
European manufacturer and developer CREO, together with industry partners, will build a four-storey, residential apartment block with provision for a ground floor food retail unit. It will be constructed using CREO Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF), and aims to achieve Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Due to completed in the Autumn, it aims to be affordable and aims to achieve Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.For Insite 09 the part-built building will present a chance to see each of the construction stages, left exposed for the show.
ICF is a build method that typically uses expanded polystyrene (Neopor) ‘hollow’ blocks, which lock together into formwork to create a wall structure into which concrete is poured. Once the concrete wall is set, it becomes a high strength concrete frame structure. The formwork remains in place as thermal insulation. The method can also be used to create floors and roofs which are formed with Neopor alone. ‘ICF can provide u-values ranging from the standard 0.30 w/m²k, as required by the current Building Regulations, down to 0.11 w/m²k,’ says Colin Wakefield of CREO. ‘This is ideal for achieving upper Levels 5 and 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.’
CREO, whose structural complete, walls, floor and roofing system is currently going through BPS2020 certification with BRE Global, also wants to highlight the economic capabilities of the system, and its versatility for social, private and commercial applications. ‘We are all aware of the environmental drivers for achieving a more sustainable built environment,’ says Colin Wakefield,’ but the buildings we deliver must also be affordable and built to quality standards – this is probably more important now in the economic downturn than ever before’.
Among the benefits CREO lists for the system, it highlights the thermal mass properties of the concrete structure – given the rising temperatures being experienced by the UK as a result of climate change.
Key features
- four-storey social mixed use building – ground floor retail outlet, first floor apartment and duplex on second and third floors
- walls, floors and roof constructed with ICF
- contemporary design that maximises space in a creative way.
Partners
Some of the partners in the construction of the CREO House are: CREO ProKoncept, Prokoncept Zrt (Hungary), Neopor/BASF, Aggregate Industries , Daikin, British Gypsum, Polypipe, Pick Everard, Greenled Lighting, Akvaterm (Finland) and MJP Architects. Main contractor is Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd.
