Classic Victorian house uses most modern methods

Celcon ensures Victorian-style character property has the thermal efficiency and low running costs required of a 21st century home

A home with the character of a listed building but all the benefits and low-running costs resulting from the use of modern building materials sounds like an impossible dream, but that is just what building contractor Richard Ashley and his wife Kim have achieved at Cheveley in Suffolk.

Their 3,200 sq ft, four bedroom house looks like a listed Victorian building.

The T-shaped property features a multi-gabled, 50 pitch roof, reclaimed tiles, tall chimneys with diagonally opposed chimney breasts, rendered walls and cast-iron gutters, all built on a plinth of reclaimed Cambridgeshire brick.

But under its skin the house, built using modern methods of construction, bristles with the latest technology.

Solid aircrete walls of Celcon 300mm blocks bonded with Thin-Joint quick-setting mortar system (Celfix) and a lime-based putty external render better the U-value of 0.35W/m2K required by Part L of the Building Regulations.

Celcon 100mm standard blocks were used for the internal walls.

Originating in Scandinavia and used in many other parts of northern Europe, solid aircrete with thin-layer mortar is well known for its excellent insulation properties and high quality and solidity of construction.

The house has cathedral-style vaulted ceilings throughout the first floor, so the high insulation values achieved by using aircrete were critical.

Aircrete also proved to be the answer for the floors.

Richard Ashley wanted to avoid creaking wooden floor joists and to enjoy the comfort of underfloor heating, which works better with a masonry floor.

For both these reasons he specified the Celcon Flooring System.

The 52 reinforced aircrete floor elements were installed in a day.

An advanced, self-levelling floor screed completed the floor - a clean efficient system which resulted in an accurately level floor which could be worked off within 48 hours.

Other innovations include prefabricated roof panels, which were craned into position, complete with rafters, insulation and internal finishes.

Richard Ashley was very impressed by the speed and ease of building with Celcon blocks and the Thin-Joint system: "Construction was fast and accurate, with the walls going up to tight tolerances both in level and verticality".

"We completed a high quality home in a remarkably quick time and we now have a Victorian-style character property with the thermal efficiency and low running costs required of a 21st century home.".

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