Modernist EnerPHit Plus
A 1960's three-storey property originally designed in the ‘upside-down’ style with an open-plan living space retrofitted to EnerPHit Plus certified standard. The project team aimed to retain as much of the existing structure and materials as possible, including the reuse of decommissioned pre-existing underfloor heating pipes.
To achieve EnerPHit Plus requirements involved careful consideration of how to introduce the airtightness to the existing building fabric without affecting the overall appearance of the existing house. There were also challenges about how to resolve thermal bridging between the new triple glazed windows and the existing walls.
The house needed extensive repair works addressing air leakages and damp, but the the client was keen to retain many of the original features of the modernist 1960s aesthetic. The building's reinforced-concrete structure presented difficulties since it was hard to know the condition of the structure, and where the pre-stressed areas would be, until the building work was underway.
Different wall build-ups (using internal or external wall insulation, such as EcoCork lime plaster, ThermaLine render or wood-based Steico insulation) were needed depending on the orientation of the building. The outside of the building was fully re-rendered, alongside making good windowsills with leaking flashings. The project team aimed to retain as much of the existing structure and materials as possible, including the reuse of decommissioned pre-existing underfloor heating pipes.