Requiring speed without sacrificing quality for their project, Hockley Homes specified the Thin-Joint System from H+H and were amazed with the assistance they received from the manufacturer as they produced nine beautiful homes in the Lincolnshire Wolds.
Hockley Homes, a producer of premium homes, takes pride in creating properties to a higher environmental standard than is usual in UK construction industry. To accomplish this, specifiers opted to use aircrete because of its strong sustainability credentials compared to more traditional methods, like timber frame construction.
Upon hearing that Hockley required aircrete for their project, H+H went out of their way to assist with the project. As well as providing the materials for the project, H+H technicians visited the site at no extra cost, providing tailored training to the Hockley blocklayers. When the Hockley contractors were confident with aircrete and its unique characteristics, technicians assessed the work on site to ensure that building standards were of the highest quality.
As well as being sustainable, Hockley Homes realised that the versatility and ease of installation with aircrete would make production of the two separate blocks of terraced housing and two semi-detached homes much more straightforward within the time limit set for the project.
H+H has embraced a sustainable approach to building from the very start. Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA), a by-product of electricity generation that would usually go to landfill, is used to produce aircrete blocks. In addition, the H+H Thin-Joint System is an industry recognised Modern Method of Construction that reduces waste due to its ability to be cut on site.
The benefits of aircrete go much further than just sustainability, as Andrew Hockley, Managing Director of Hockley Homes explains: “One of the reasons that we specified the H+H Thin-Joint System and other H+H products for these homes was due to the energy efficiency that can be achieved in an aircrete home, something that we could not get near if we used a timber frame construction for example.”
The inherent light weight of aircrete adds a significant contribution to the thermal mass of a building. With a masonry home, the overall temperature is cooler since aircrete products absorb heat in the daytime before slowly releasing the heat at cooler times. This solution limits the requirement for additional cooling and heating, bolstering the energy efficiency within all of the properties.
Speeding up the build process was vital for Andrew working to a tight schedule and this was another reason why he favours the Thin-Joint System.
“When up and running, the system is very quick indeed, which keeps everything on schedule, and makes any unforeseen issues easier to handle,” Andrew said.
A number of innovations have meant that the Thin-Joint System can produce high quality results in rapid succession. By using Celfix mortar, which was developed and optimised for use with the Thin-Joint System, mortar usage is reduced by 80%, as 2mm of Celfix has the performance of 10mm of regular mortar. Celfix sets incredibly quickly, reaching full strength within 24 hours, speeding up the Lincolnshire project even further.
With all nine homes completed, Hockley Homes feel that they were correct to put their faith into H+H aircrete and the Thin-Joint System.
