"vapour control layer"

Recently, Purple Rhino were approached to clean the iconic Aviva building in York. The Aviva building has a long and rich history, built to house increasing staff numbers of what was then the Yorkshire Insurance company several decades ago. It is now a well known and beloved landmark in the city of York.They chose to tackle the project using the Stonehealth DOFF Integra system due to its unrivalled ability to gently remove a variety of unwanted matter, without causing any damage to this iconic and historic building.Stonehealth Rosette Approved, Purple Rhino recognise the DOFF Integra as the very best in steam cleaning equipment and note it’s proficiency in phased, sensitive cleaning. Providing a high 150-degree superheated water vapour at a very low-pressure, the DOFF was a natural fit for the project.

Myatts Field North is a major regeneration project in the London borough of Lambeth, the development consists of 808 new homes, and 172 refurbished properties with 10 per cent fully accessible to wheelchairs. New streets, green spaces, play areas, landscaped park with two seven-a-side football pitches, multi-use games area and a play area, community centre, local store, commercial units, and an energy plant which provides reliable and efficient heating and hot water were also installed.Cellecta’s ScreedBoard 28 was specified by PRP Architects due to its ultimate single layer acoustic overlay treatment. It is frequently reviewed as the solution of choice for new build and refurbishment developments. Its high density and unique resilient layer provides an unrivalled acoustic performance.Regenter Ltd was awarded this 50,000m² contract to construct this regeneration in South London.

9,000 m² of solar control glazing with Pilkington Activ Suncool™ 50/25, 2,000 m² enamelled panels with screen printing and 700 m² of curved solar control insulating glass.

Arable farmer Ivan Banister talked to various agricultural building companies for advice before using local contractors to construct both parts of the new grain store. The first part of the new building was constructed with the secondary expansion undertaken and completed in time for the harvest. Eternit Profile 6 roofing sheets were selected for the project and installed by MJ Barrett.The roof was the most important consideration for Ivan and it was vital that the roofing material used on the store would resist the pressure from temperature and weather without cracking. Any problems in the roof and subsequent leakage would cause serious damage to harvested crops.Condensation had also proved a problem in older, steel roofed storage facilities at Warden Farms and the vapour permeable nature of Eternit fibre cement roofing sheets helps to minimise moisture levels within the new storage building.

St Peter’s is a Grade II* listed church in Notting Hill, West London. It was built to designs by Thomas Allom and is reputed to be the last Classical Revival church built in London in the 19th century. Building began in 1855 and the church was consecrated in 1857. Its large scale portico and west tower are the notable features. A complete restoration and refurbishment has been carried out, including the re-instatement of its redundant gallery, new meeting rooms and exterior colour-washed facades.The architect wanted to achieve a look that replicates limewash, with some very subtle variation almost replicating a layering colour of bath stone. The final specification was a layered solution to achieve the desired finish. This included a coat of KEIM Soldalit Fixativ to the newly applied lime skim, and KEIM Soldalit Grob applied to all areas. The surface was then painted using KEIM Soldalit, before lastly KEIM Restauro Lasur being applied as the top two coats.

A prime new mixed residential development, located in Kings Road, Chelsea. All 11 apartments are fully KNX controlled. Smart keypads, integrated thermostats, and PIR automation sensors within each apartment give occupants intuitive and automated control of their heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, and motorised blinds. In addition, the home can be controlled via iPads and the main, centrally located, Gira G1 touch screen. Architect: Nick Shipp ArchitectsPhotography by: Alexander James

This confident and considered office design scheme at Edinburgh-based construction and property business Thomas & Adamson features exposed walls and ceilings combined with Milliken's sumptuous Artistic Liberties modular carpet. The beautifully layered tones of Without Reserve and highly-decorative Outspoken Tradition were the perfect choice for this progressive, agile workspace.

Solihull Retirement Village offers 261 apartments, as well including a village hall, library and IT suite and other facilities. Location: Solihull Contractor: VistryAspex supplied: Ironmongery and access control (Salto access control & automatic door operators

Gowriehill Distribution Service Reservoir is located in Dundee City and managed by Scottish Water. In late 2021, part of the reservoir tank construction was discovered to have a brittle asphalt waterproofing layer over the top of a beam and block roof. Fosroc proposed a solution that was easy to apply and provided a robust watertight finish and a 20 year warranty.

Designed by Fife Council Property Services, the newbuilding constructed at Auchmuty High School inGlenrothes, Scotland, sees the new development replacethe old high school with better learning facilities andadvanced learning equipment.Allgood provided Fife Council with a complete accesscontrol and ironmongery solution, which makes the majorityof the school keyless.Allgood Trio created an advanced access control package,containing proximity readers and access control handlesets, that provide traceable audit throughout the buildingand in addition to the ability to control access to variousareas. The package also included software which allowsthe deletion of a card if it is lost or stolen, providing a betteralternative to the expensive process of replacing lost keys.Allgood Trio also supplied and installed the automatic doorset solution, which satisfied Fife Council’s requirement forthe doors to automatically drive open and remain open inthe event of the fire alarm being activated, providing smokeventilation through the main central core area of the school.The solution also allowed staff to control the main entrancedoors and pupil entrances during specific times. (i.e.granting pupils access during school; start, finish and breaktimes and being locked outside these time periods).The whole package provided by Allgood Trio was deliveredon time and within the clients budget, including theinstallation of both access control and automatic doorsetsby Allgood Trio engineers.

Opened in 2009, Droylsden Academy in Manchester is a contemporary, open plan teaching environment. The state-of-the-art secondary school serves 1,400 pupils, however since opening it had become apparent that its design and layout had some challenges, in a large part due to the sound pollution associated with the open-plan layout. Contractors Buildmain were briefed to reconfigure a number of areas in order to minimise reverberation and improve the learning environment – and looked to CMS Danskin to identify an appropriate remedial acoustic solution.The ChallengeOne area of the school that needed particular attention was the music room, which was too large to be conducive to effective music practice. Contractors Buildmain were briefed to reconfigure the space into four separate rooms, to provide a soundproof environment for music recital and practice. The new practice rooms were to adjoin an existing classroom and the communal corridor, so controlling reverberation was an integral part of the scheme – the architects had specified the control of sound levels up to 68dB.The SolutionA complete overhaul of the existing music rooms was required – partition walls were removed and a new layout designed to incorporate the four separate practice rooms, an internal corridor and a store room. To achieve the dB rating of 68, Buildmain opted for a combination of acoustic solutions provided by CMS Danskin, including SuperPhon panels in all four rooms.In order to control reverberation in the area, Buildmain constructed the new rooms using a twin-wall method, using 15mm Soundbloc plasterboard with an acoustic matting sandwiched between the layers. The walls were then over-clad using IsoMax Acoustic Insulation Clips. A total of 20 panels were installed by direct fix to the walls of each of the four new music rooms. The 50mm thick panels were supplied in three sizes; 1200x600mm, 1000x500mm and 1000x750mm, and the colour was matched to the school’s existing interior scheme.To offer even higher levels of absorption, CMS Danskin recommended SuperPhon acoustic wall panels to reduce reverberation times and reflected sound. To assist with the correct specification, a CMS Danskin representative visited the site, at short notice, to assess the rooms and subsequently advised on the best options for the SuperPhon panels.The ResultCMS Danskin worked closely with contractors Buildmain in order to meet the very tight time frame of six weeks to install the Superphon wall panels – the project needed to be completed within the school summer holidays, so that the rooms were ready for pupils on their return to school in September 2016.Paul Bryan of Buildmain said: “We had to fit eight weeks’ work into the six-week summer holiday, and CMS Danskin impressed us with their ability to turn around the product so quickly. Not only were they able to deliver to meet our schedule, they were also able to send out an expert to advise on the best options to meet the specification, all within the timeframe.”

PaxLock Pro, Net2 and Entry Provide Robust, Wireless Access ControlHumberside Fire and Rescue Service is responsible for the fire and rescue service across the East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, and North and North East Lincolnshire, serving a population of almost one million people. Providing a professional and skilled emergency response service; 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service also offer a range of other services and functions, including assistance with animal rescue, dangerous chemical spillages, local and wide area flooding, road traffic collisions, aircraft and railway incidents.RequirementThe Fire and Rescue Service required an access control solution that could secure multiple sites on a single system. The system needed to be robust and reliable, to maintain the security of the premises whilst allowing ease of entry and exit when responding to an emergency. Flexible access permissions across 12 of the fire stations in the region were also essential.Humberside Fire and Rescue Service worked with Delta Security Systems Ltd to recommend an access control solution that could meet their requirements. Based in Hull, Delta Security Systems supply electronic security systems for domestic and commercial use. They recommended Paxton’s flagship access control system; Net2, with PaxLock Pro; wireless access control in a door handle, and Entry; IP video door entry.Type of sitePublic Sector; Emergency Response LocationHull, UK Number of sites/doors/users12 sites260 doors300+ users Solution requiredManage and control access to all fire stations in the regionFlexible access permissions for short term site accessPin and token authentication for increased site security ResultRead in/read out access control providing fullaudit trail of who is on siteSecure fully manned and on-call stations withcentralised access managementRobust, multi-site access control solutionCentral management with remote access capabilities Paxton products usedPaxLock ProNet2 Plus ControllersNet2Air BridgeNet2 SoftwareEntry Standard panelEntry Standard MonitorP50 ReadersKP75 Readers

For this software company's central Paris offices, the woven textural aesthetic of Milliken's Crafted Series provides a great way to demarcate and highlight key zones throughout the space. Dissident 2.0 in layered tones of blue reinforce Pega's brand identity and provide luxurious underfoot comfort and acoustic performance thanks to its Comfort Plus cushion backing.

One Hyde Park, owned by CPC Group, is a high-end residential and retail park. Due to the nature and standard of the construction, developers required the highest quality tools, equipment and materials to construct the building. The ambition was to keep the design lines sleek, elegant and spacious, while still achieving the required high thermal performance expected in in a modern prestigious development in the heart of London. Insulating the floors introduced another level of complexity and so the search for something that was up to the challenge began.After meeting with developers, our experts concluded that SuperFOIL SFUF would be the most practical and efficient solution to the project. With a slim profile of just 6mm and R value of 0.8, SFUF gives a great solution where floor depths are limited. SFUF has a slightly different build-up to our typical roof / wall products in that it doesn’t include layers of wadding, this makes it much slimmer and less compressible, making it an ideal combination for solid floor applications. Unlike our other products, SFUF is also typically installed with no air gaps which, again, contributes to its slim profile. The top layer of SFUF is a polythene membrane which provides protection allowing it to be screeded onto directly with no need for additional layers to be installed. This also makes SFUF ideal for use with underfloor heating systems. The application of SuperFOIL SFUF was a success and the building was finished in 2010. Starting at £20million, One Hyde Park residential properties began selling soon after the completion of the complex. SuperFOIL SFUF provided a solution to achieve a high level of thermal performance in this prestigious development. SFUF has an impressive thermal r-value achieving excellent performance in a minimal amount of space 

The Challenge was To pump screed 47 floors up in a ‘single pump’ operation. And to lay 1800m2 a day for the Shangri La Hotel section of The Shard. 40mm Gyvlon SKY on a resilient layer to part E, pumped internally in the building to allow the glass cladding and other operations to continue. Single pump operation at 14m3 per hour up 200 metres

The stunning residential development ArtHouse at J1, Kings Cross has installed screed and flooring elements from Flowcrete UK to create an efficient, sustainable and high performing floor zone. The environmentally friendly, self-levelling Isocrete Screed was chosen for the project thanks to its rapid-set properties and its reputation for creating a hard wearing and reliable screed layer.

The front garden consisted of the typical grass, a narrow footpath, and shrubs. It was prepared prior to arrival removing all elements including the soil which was made level and topped with a free-draining compacted stone, this is the required substrate for SureSell. Once the cellular structure is in place it's filled with loose stone and then suitable for a final layer of smooth yet permeable resin bound paving.

M&E contractor ‘The All Group’ designed 2.5km RAYCHEM of HWAT-M self-regulating cables in a single pipe hot water system throughout the hotel. Controlled by RAYCHEM HWAT-ECO smart controllers, the system provided the benefits of energy efficiency plus savings in material costs, labour and space. Pipe freeze protection was delivered using 5.5 km of RAYCHEM WinterGard, controlled with RAYCHEM RAYSTAT-ECO-10. Underfloor heating was installed in the bedrooms, using RAYCHEM T2Red with T2Reflecta. In addition, RAYCHEM T2Quicknet 160 was installed in the en-suite bathrooms and the hotel’s luxurious spa.

Paxton10 Provides Multi-Site Access Control for Academy TrustLocation:North Lincolnshire, UKType of site:EducationNumber of users/doors:166 users30 doorsThe St Lawrence Academy is a school for 11- to 16-year-olds, located in North Lincolnshire, UK. The school is currently undergoing an expansion, so they looked for an access control system that would provide an extra level of security for their pupils and staff, and could add new buildings and users to the system as the school grows.Advanced IT Services was approached by St Lawrence Academy with the requirements, and they suggested Paxton10, a forward-thinking access control and video management system.Advanced IT Services is an end-to-end IT solutions provider that has over 20 years of experience in the education sector and has installed Paxton security products for over 10 years. They support schools and councils nationwide, providing solutions from access control, video management, to IT support

This environmental building services business's office is Glasgow and Edinburgh is carpeted with Milliken's vibrant, carpet planks. Designed with Milliken’s proprietary Millitron® digital colour placement technology, the patterning is sharp, complex and multi-layered. This carbon neutral modular carpet product incorporates Milliken's WellBAC Comfort cushion backing which plays an important role in managing the office acoustics.

The increased levels of thermal insulation found within the roof voids of a modern house is intended to reduce the amount of heat that is lost from the warm living spaces of the property over time. However breaks in this insulation layer, such as through the loft access door, will severely compromise its effectiveness. This editorial explains how to avoid losing heat in the loft space and therefore losing money.