The superior thermal performance of the Kingspan OPTIM-R Flooring System has helped a new residential development in the fashionable area of Battersea Village to meet its strict sustainability goals.
Cobalt Place is part of international property developer Lendlease’s masterplan for the former Salesian College site in South London, which also includes a new school and Salesian community accommodation.
The two five and six storey apartment blocks and two townhouses have been designed by AHMM Architects to combine modern architecture with high sustainability standards, including the use of the innovative natural building material, Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT).
A total of 111m2 of the Kingspan OPTIM-R Flooring System was specified for the townhouses due to its high level of thermal performance, which is five times that of other, more commonly available insulation materials. Installed by Oventrop in conjunction with their underfloor heating system, the system comprises two layers of 40 mm Kingspan OPTIM-R vacuum insulation panels with a 3 mm Rubber Crumb underlay and a 3 mm Geficell overlay.
Kingspan OPTIM-R flex infill strips of the same thickness were then fitted around floor edges to complete the installation. Despite the slim build-up, the Kingspan OPTIM-R panels helped to achieve an outstanding overall U-value of 0.08 W/m2.K on the ground floor.
As with every installation of a Kingspan OPTIM-R System, Kingspan’s specialist technical team provided detailed layouts and instructions for the project, to ensure it achieved the best possible level of thermal performance from absolute minimal thickness.
As Gavin Welsman of Oventrop explains: “Once we got in touch with the Kingspan OPTIM-R team, everything fell into place. They even arranged site surveys and delivery to the site. The panels arrived pre-sized to the buildings’ dimensions and were simple to install, with no extra cutting or moulding of the flex infill strips required - ideal for the tight space and timescale we were working with.”
The 20 - 40mm thick Kingspan OPTIM-R panels are the only vacuum insulation panels in the world to be certified under the independent BDA Agrément scheme. This confirms that the products will perform as expected when fitted to Kingspan Insulation’s recommendations. The certification is also recognised by bodies such as the NHBC and LABC.
(Photograph: Lendlease)
