Cotswolds Barn Conversions

Cotswold developer making good use of Marmox for barn conversions

A long-established, successful developer specialising in conversions and other high end residential projects in the Cotswolds is nearing the end of a major project, where Marmox Multiboards in various thicknesses have been employed extensively during the restoration and alteration of a large farm complex of traditional stone buildings from the early 19^th Century.

The former farmyard near Chipping Norton features eight barns, originally built of the local honey coloured limestone, enclosing a total area of 18,000 square feet. Beautifully detailed by locally based JRN Properties Ltd, all the conversions benefit from underfloor heating installed across a minimum 50mm depth of Marmox Multiboards where the existing levels didn’t work for traditional insulation and screed.

Marmox’s versatile and robust insulation material also features up at roof level, while the developer has in the past employed Marmox Thermoblocks on other projects. These having been specified to address thermal bridging at the floor junction where new walls were being erected.

John Nutbourne founded JRN Properties Ltd and undertakes most of the design work as well as project managing the developments. He commented: “I have been utilising Marmox Multiboard for over 20 years now, having been attracted to the fact it is a high-performance insulation which is also strong and stable, as well as straightforward to install. For the current project, we have been laying new concrete floor slabs and installing underfloor heating, using various thicknesses of Marmox boards to address variations in levels between different areas. I also always use Multiboard to insulate around the rooflights that we install within the roofs to create the extra accommodation. In these situations, we simply treat the surface of the Multiboard with an additional SBR key (grit bonding agent) and then apply standard gypsum plaster finishes across them: which avoids any cracking and the risk of cold spots which can be a tricky problem to overcome in Oak Frame buildings. Basically, we always aim at achieving the best standards of finish we can throughout our properties, which translates into achieving the best possible sale value.” The quality of the spaces created resulted in the smallest of the 2 bed new homes selling for £1.2 million.

All of the Marmox Multiboards - as well as the Thermoblocks and Marmox MSP360 adhesive to secure the stepped overlaps along the length of the floor/wall junctions during previous projects, have been supplied through the Chipping Norton and Bourton-on-the-Water branches of Travis Perkins.

Marmox Multiboards are manufactured from extruded polystyrene or XPS encapsulated in reinforced polymer concrete, produced in a range of thicknesses up to 60mm and offer a variety of positive physical characteristics in addition to being fully waterproof. They are both light to handle and easy to cut, while still being able to sustain substantial loadings if required, such as for flooring applications. They further offer good thermal insulation performance, helping to cut condensation risk and reduce fuel bills. The surface coating presents an ideal substrate for direct tiling as well as to receive render or plaster finishes.