Historic barn becomes snug family home

Energy efficient timber barn project.

Energy efficiency was a key driver in the renovation of a historic timber barn as a unique family home on a 12 hectare farmland site in north Essex.
Once a Second World War airbase, the site still has the finest surviving Nissen hut complex in the UK. Any new buildings had to approach the historic structures with care and sensitivity.
In order to integrate the design with the land’s historic past, steel tension rods and curved roofing were introduced into the timber framework to create an interesting juxtaposition of old and new. The use of steel rods also allowed much greater flexibility in the internal layout. By using dynamic thermal modelling to predict the home’s performance, the designers were able to fully optimise the use of floor and glazing construction to ensure the building maintains the right temperatures all year round.

To this end 165mm of high performing Celotex FI5000 was specified for the flooring insulation; this premium value added product, with a lambda value of 0.21W/mK, made it the best possible thermal performance choice for the specification. Manufactured from rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR), Celotex FI5000 is constructed using a blowing agent that achieves zero ozone depletion potention (ODP) and a low global warming potential (GWP).

Celotex’s flooring insulation product also eliminated the need for an additional separating layer, as it features an innovative cement compatible composite facer with a built-in vapour control layer. Due to its high compressive strength rating of ≤175kPa and excellent dimensional stability, the installers were also able to walk on the insulation directly during the entire installation process. An added benefit is the increased clip retention capabilities that the industry leading compressive strength achieves.