The construction of a £45 million all-through school on the Greenwich Peninsula in London will have the Frametite air barrier system from the A. Proctor Group installed.
Designed by architects Penoyre & Prasad, the ‘St Mary Magdalene C of E School’ will provide educational facilities for up to 1,646 children from ages 3 to 19, as well as around 200 staff. Part of one of the largest regeneration projects in London, the development includes facilities for nursery, primary, secondary and sixth form education, along with community-use sports facilities and landscaping. BAM Construction has been chosen to build and manage the project which spans approximately two hectares. The development aims to reach BREEAM ‘excellent’ assessment and to achieve a 35% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions above building regulation requirements.
Sub-contractor Bellwood Interiors, required a high-quality air tightness membrane and chose the Frametite System as an external air barrier and alternative to a traditional standard breather membrane with EDPM for the steel detailing. The Frametite System comprises Frametite, a low-resistance vapour permeable air barrier for walls, plus Wraptite Tape. In addition, Wraptite self-adhesive membrane was applied to the external envelope in continuous pieces.
Wraptite is reportedly the only self-adhering vapour permeable air barrier certified by the BBA and combines the properties of vapour-permeability and airtightness in one self-adhering membrane. This approach saves on both the labour and material costs associated with achieving the demands of energy efficiency in buildings.
Mark Nixon, managing director of Bellwood Interiors, commented: “We have been delighted with the Frametite System and with the self-adhesive Wraptite membrane which has proven really easy to use, robust and has speeded up the installation process. We will certainly be recommending the system on future projects without hesitation.”
Unlike internal air barriers, which can be complex and costly to install due to the need to accommodate building services such as electrical, lighting, heating and drainage systems, positioning an air barrier on the outside of the insulation simplifies the process of maintaining the envelope’s integrity as there are less building services and structural penetrations to be sealed.
By reducing the likelihood of potential failures to meet designed airtightness levels, the Frametite System helps ensure “as-designed” performance, narrowing the performance gap between as-designed and actual energy performance.
