Case study

Saint-Gobain teamed up with the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to transform a dilapidated Victorian stable block into three energy efficient terraced homes, suitable for 21st century living.

 

In 2010, Saint-Gobain became a partner in the National Refurbishment Centre. Its primary goal is to help support a step-change in the national delivery of green refurbishment through a national network of up to 500 exemplar buildings. This network will provide a robust evidence-base on sustainable, energy-efficient refurbishment methods.

 

One of the Centre’s flagship projects is The Victorian Terrace, part of the Building Research Establishment’s (BRE) Rethinking Housing Refurbishment (RHR) project, centred on a disused stable block at BRE’s headquarters in Watford. Built in 1855, the building has many of the problems associated with refurbishing older properties, such as solid brick walls, clay tile roofing, sash windows, damp, asbestos and poor thermal performance. The project has seen the building transformed into three energy-efficient demonstration homes, along with an Information and Training Centre, where visitors can learn best-practice refurbishment, including the latest processes, materials and technological advances.

 

Saint-Gobain supplied products and systems to refurbish Demonstration Home B, a 93 m² Assisted Living Technology Zone encompassing a twostorey, one-bedroom unit that was designed to demonstrate retrofit solutions that can be offered to an aging population in need of care. The innovative products used for the project are all commercially available, combining high performance with ease of use to deliver the very best in sustainable efficiency.

 

Our companies and brands, including Saint-Gobain Isover, Weber, British Gypsum, Ecophon, Solaglas and Saint-Gobain Glass, supplied materials and solutions to help upgrade the original building from an Energy Performance Certificate rating of F, to A and B rated terraced properties.

 

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