Marmox Thermoblocks selected for Sevenoaks sports complex.
One of the largest structures to make use of Marmox Thermoblock’s unique combination of load-carrying and insulating properties is currently taking shape in Swanley, Kent. Designed by Cambridge-based practice Saunders Boston, the £20m White Oaks Leisure Centre will include a 25-metre, six-lane pool, a 100-position fitness suite, indoor obstacle course, studio suites, multi-purpose sports area, changing rooms, café and seating/viewing areas. The building is being constructed by ISG.
Responding to the site’s sloping topography, the water-retaining concrete lower floor to the 40-metre- wide building is raised up above ground level by the main frame of steel columns and beams, with a block and brickwork cavity perimeter wall enclosing a void space. Within the inner leaf, a total of 1200, 65mm-deep, 600x140mm Thermoblocks form a continuous thermal break overlapping the underside of the concrete floor; the soffit of which will then be covered with a spray-applied insulation layer to complete the thermal integrity of the substructure.
The Thermoblocks were supplied via the independent builders’ merchant group, Polegate, to Swift Brickwork, which has employed the product on other projects as a stronger alternative to vitreous-based alternatives. In addition, ten boxes of Marmox 360 adhesive were supplied to complete the overlap joints between the adjoining Thermoblocks.
Marmox Thermoblocks are available in widths of 100, 140 or 215mm, and are formed from sections of XPS (extruded polystyrene) encapsulating two rows of high-strength epoxy concrete mini-columns. These are attached at either end to the top and bottom layers of glass-fibre reinforced polymer concrete, to ensure a good bond with the rest of the structure.
As well as combatting cold bridging at the base of blockwork walls, Thermoblocks are commonly utilised to support timber frame construction, or vulnerable upper floor junctions, including beneath parapet walls. Crucially, a variety of details have been thermally modelled by the BRE to provide insulation values for use in SAP or other calculations, avoiding the punishing ‘default’ figure.
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