The project at the Building Research Establishment’s (BRE) Innovation Park in Watford, is designed to achieve Level 6 under the Code for Sustainable Homes.
It aims to demonstrate that environmentally sustainable affordable housing, designed to meet all statutory requirements and Lifetime Homes standards, can be built for a realistic and affordable cost. The building will be constructed using an Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF) block for the external walls, and ICF trays forming floors and roofs. The lean-mix concrete core makes use of cutting-edge research carried out by the Concrete Association.

The system enables rapid construction of the building shell without the costly tooling and transportation costs associated with timber and concrete prefabrication, and has inherently excellent thermal and sound insulation properties. Hot water is provided by air-source heat pump and underfloor heating will be provided throughout. Grey water will be recycled and rainwater will be collected and reused.
The building represents a slice of a small 41/2 storey apartment building, with a small commercial unit on the ground floor, and one 1bed 2person flat and one 3bed 5person duplex on the floors above. The duplex makes use of the roof space by providing a mezzanine floor over the living area. The design forms a part of our Sustainable Suburbia research into family housing density carried out for the Homes and Communities Agency.

Client CREO ProKoncept Ltd.
Contract Traditional
Completion 2010
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