Acheson & Glover - Industrial Development - UK

Date: 07 Apr 2008

Gateshead Housing Company is using Novabrik, the dry-built brick cladding system from Acheson & Glover Group, in trials to assess its suitability for the external refurbishment of its stock of Airey-type, PRC [prefabricated reinforced concrete] houses.

Airey houses were a feature of the post war building boom. Their prefabricated, reinforced concrete columns support ship-lap concrete panels and give the houses their characteristic appearance.

Moisture ingress over many years resulted in deterioration and structural weakening and Airey properties were declared defective under the Housing Act of 1985.

Engineering design work for the refurbishment was done by housing consultants, Michael Dyson Associates Ltd. Explaining the system, Engineering Assistant Ray Bottomley, said. "The outer leaf of concrete panels is removed and a new load bearing timber frame introduced. Although the existing concrete columns remain in place, the new frame takes all the upper floor and roof loading, making the old columns redundant".

"The new frame helps create an insulated cavity which is closed off with ply sheeting. The outer skin of Novabrik cladding is then fitted. It's as straightforward as that", added Mr Bottomley.

The Novabrik cladding was installed by contractors St.Astier Ltd. Director, Ranson Og, described the system and the fixing process: "Novabrik works very much like tiling. The brick sized masonry units overlap and lock together, forming a weather-proof and breathable outer skin"

"We dry-laid the Novabrik units in a conventional brick bond onto a polymer starter track fixed to the structural timber frame at ground level. Because the system is wall-hung, it does not need concrete footings like conventional brickwork re-cladding. There's no mortar or wet trades involved so it's more like a joiner's job than a bricklayer's", added Mr Og.

The finished result is a building that looks like a newly built brick house. The Novabrik skin is only 75mm thick so existing eaves overhang are not compromised

Gateshead Housing manages over 500 Airey type properties in its stock of 22,000 social houses and the importance of the trials has also been recognised by Social Landlords in other areas of the country. It is estimated that well over 20,000 Airey type homes are still in use, many of which are in urgent need of refurbishment.

The Gateshead Airey homes are being refurbished under the Government's Decent Homes Initiative which requires that over 3.6 million homes throughout the country are brought up to a minimum standard of repair, facilities and insulation by 2010.

Novabrik is also suitable for new-build projects and the manufacturer claims savings in installation times of up to 50% have been experienced, resulting in earlier occupancy and overall reductions in contract duration.