KINGSPAN CENTURY – A RAPID BUILD SOLUTION
Kingspan Century is the leading provider of off-site construction solutions, with over 40 years’ experience in the design, manufacture and erection of high-performance Engineered Timber Systems. Unrivalled technical capability and manufacturing capacity were highly influential in Sisk Living’s appointment of Kingspan Century as Rapid Build systems supplier to their ambitiously programmed 90 house scheme for South Dublin County Council at Sheehy Skeffington Meadows in Tallaght.
Notwithstanding an emphasis on speed of construction, performance remained paramount leading to the specification of Century’s off-site manufactured ULTIMA™ Timber Frame Building System, which included a 0.15 W/m2k U-Value Closed Panel External wall system with practically eliminated thermal bridging and an assembled system airtightness of less than 2m3/m2/hr.
The timber frame structures for the initial 73 units were manufactured and site assembled in just 13 weeks, with the subsequent Phase 2 of 17 units being delivered over a 7 week period. Predictability and speed of programme significantly reduced risk to the contractor, with fewer concurrent trades and the elimination of on-site wastage leading to a cleaner site.
Delivered ‘Just-in-time’ to alleviate site congestion, units were typically weather tight within 5 days of structural assembly, allowing early access for follow on trades. Open web joists and service cavities in the ULTIMA wall systems provided unobstructed distribution routes for M&E services, eliminating on-site builders work and potential compromise to thermal and airtightness integrity. The high dimensional accuracy of the construction system also enabled components such as windows and kitchen units to be pre-ordered based on the timber frame fabrication drawings and provided reliability for standardised M&E installation layouts.
Kingspan Century’s Business Unit Director, Gary Treanor commented;“Credit must be given to South Dublin County Council on the design and scale of what is surely a flagship project for the delivery of modern large-scale Social Housing schemes. Similarly, the project provided an effective demonstration of Sisk’s house building capability through their dedicated ‘Sisk Living’ brand. It’s pleasing to partner with a contractor who holds a similar ethos on Health & Safety, Quality and Environmental performance and we are delighted to have continued our relationship in the recently commenced SDCC Rapid Build scheme at St. Cuthbert’s Park in Clondalkin, in which we will deliver 63 timber frame units in just 12 weeks.”
Over the last eighteen months Kingspan Century have delivered over 170 units to social housing projects and concurrent to the Tallaght project were engaged with Sisk Living in the delivery of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s George’s Place development, which received an Irish Green Building Council Silver Award for the attainment of a nearly Zero Energy Building ‘nZEB’ standard.
“Our ULTIMA Systems are already at the nZEB standard, which will soon become mandatory for all housing stock, and their utilisation on the George’s Place project demonstrates this can be achieved cost effectively, to a rapid build programme on a difficult urban site. Timber frame remains the most cost-effective off-site solution for housing and with Kingspan Century, contractors can be assured of performance and regulatory compliance with reliable on-site construction scheduling enabling ‘on time’ completion and project handover”.
For more information, visit www.kingspancentury.com