H+H Celcon blocks were used in an award-winning landmark self-build housing development in Plymouth. 24 one-bedroom homes were constructed in George Place; half of which were built for and by ex-servicemen. A quarter of the homes are wheelchair accessible and all are designed to be capable of meeting criteria for Lifetime Homes.
Twelve former servicemen now live in the homes they helped build during the project which was a partnership between local housing association DCH, the Community Self Build Agency (CBSA) and Plymouth City Council.
Local architect Form Design specified the use of lightweight blocks in order to achieve ‘Robust Details’ for acoustic and thermal performance. Phil Roberts, Senior Design Manager at main contractor Interserve said: “Although other lightweight blocks were initially considered, in the end we chose to use H+H Celcon Blocks. This decision was made primarily on the company reputation of H+H”.
H+H 100mm High Strength Blocks 7.3N and 140mm Standard Grade Blocks 7.3N were used for the outer leaf on the external cavity wall to meet Robust Details E-WM-23 and 24. The fully filled cavity solutions, designed to address the thermal insulation requirements of Part L, have the added benefit of providing a high acoustic performance which exceeds the requirements of Part E of the Building Regulations.
Phil said it was very straightforward to use the blocks and Interserve experienced no problems with using the product.
“We were initially nervous about using the aircrete blocks on the outside leaf and needed to check compatibility with the specialist render system first”. Once Interserve were satisfied with the performance of the H+H Celcon Blocks, render was applied directly to the product, with support from the H+H Technical Department. The lightweight properties of the H+H Celcon Blocks was a key benefit for the veterans; most of whom had never worked on a construction site before.
The constrained site presented a number of challenges for delivery however by visiting the site beforehand and working closely with Interserve’s site manager, H+H was able to review access and offer delivery of the product via a Draw Bar vehicle with a crane.
The Nelson Project was completed in July 2017 with the first residents moving in shortly afterwards. The scheme scooped ‘Best Smaller Development’ and the ‘Abercrombie Award’ (awarded to the best overall planning project) at the Plymouth City Council Abercrombie Awards in November 2017.
