Clayton Caravan Park

Clayton Caravan Park is a well-established destination, just minutes from the historic town of St. Andrews.

World famous St. Andrews links golf courses, which also offers visitors views and fishing opportunities along the River Eden. With its fully enclosed and well insulated steel framed structure, the new swimming pool and play park will offer year round enjoyment for not only those staying in the caravans and lodge homes, but also the wider public.

Requirement

A key element to this energy saving design is preventing cold-bridging occurring around the perimeter to the building’s in-situ reinforced concrete floor where it meets the external walls, with its 140mm thick block inner leaf, infilling the cold-rolled steel columns.

Solution

• Thermoblock load bearing thermal insulation blocks were installed to eliminate the cold bridge at the wall/floor junction

• Marmox MSP360 sealant was used as an adhesive to complete the stepped overlay joints between the individual Thermoblock units

• Thermoblock is available in widths of 100, 140 or 215mm and formed from 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

• 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

Outcome

The site agent for Pert Bruce Construction, Mark Macpherson, commented: “The bricklayers found it straightforward to install and our company has also been using Thermoblock on a housing site for Angus Council. While the 140mm wide units are being installed around the inner leaf of the building, the 100mm units form part of the perimeter wall to the pool both supporting the poolside slab and continuous with the insulation layer”

Site Agent: Mark Macpherson - Pert Bruce Construction

Project Architect Joe Narsapur of Montgomery Forgan Associates explained: “We have been specifying Thermoblock for probably five years now in response to being asked to detail cold-bridging solutions, where it is required by Building Standards, and councils asking for it. 

“Thermoblock was the first product we became aware of that offers the high load-carrying capabilities through the incorporation of miniature concrete columns within an insulation. I think it will get used more and more in the future”

Project Architect: Joe Narsapur - Montgomery Forgan Associates