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 | | MARLEY ETERNIT WEATHERBOARD HELPS PUSH CONSTRUCTION BOUNDARIES | | | Marley Eternit Ltd | | 09/10/2006 | | |
Fire resistant Weatherboard from Marley Eternit has helped Bywater + Tweedale architects adopt a fire engineered solution for a timber and steel-framed mixed use apartment block that is taller than normally allowed for a single-staircase building.
But the height aspect was only one of several considerations the practice had to bear in mind when meeting the brief from developer First Base Homes who specialise in regenerating redundant sites and properties and creating affordable homes for first time buyers, young families and those who want out of the rental market.
The other considerations apart from height/exposure were party walls/boundaries, flooding (the brownfield site is on the banks of the River Lune in Skerton, Lancaster), and planning policy restrictions on providing new housing.
However, the design for 22 apartments, each of around 60m2 and selling at prices from £80,000, including two penthouses of 94m2 selling at £148,000, over six storeys above a ground floor of 184m2 retail space was 'well received' by local planners.
The brief from First Base Homes was to provide the maximum amount of ground floor retail and one and two-bedroomed apartments and Bywater + Tweedale achieved this by adopting a fire engineered solution incorporating domestic sprinkler systems which enabled them to build higher than normally allowed for a single-staircase building.
The first floor of Lune Quays is a reinforced concrete slab supported on a steel frame that provides a platform to support the six-storey timber frame. The footprint is approximately 320m2 with a total internal floor area of approximately 2,220m2.
Marley Eternit's Weatherboard, which has been used on elements of all but the ground floor, was supplied in a special RAL colour and installed by the developer's own joiners with fibre cement Eterspan corners.
Manufactured to give the appearance of sawn cedar, Weatherboard is a BBA-accredited, low-maintenance alternative to real timber that is also resistant to rot and vermin as well as fire - Class 0 (Building regulations) and A2-s1-d0 (EN 13501-1), essential because of the boundary conditions.
Graham Bywater, of Bywater + Tweedale, has specified Marley Eternit materials such as other fibre cement and high-pressure laminate claddings and roof slates, on numerous projects over the 20 years he has practised as an architect.
Of this project, he said: 'The Marley Eternit Weatherboard was specified following a review of the market to determine the most suitable board material. It was chosen on the basis of durability, colour choice, fire rating and cost. The colour was chosen to complement the stone used in the building and adjacent building colour schemes.
'It is an important element of the design and visual appearance, giving a horizontal and textural contrast to other vertical elements of the design.'
First Base Homes' managing director Michael Stainton added: 'We were very impressed with the product and are considering using it on other projects.'
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