Ash Court, Girton College, Cambridge University
Ash Court is a newly constructed student accommodation block at Girton College, Cambridge University. The building comprises 50 en-suite student bedrooms complete with a gym and an indoor swimming pool.
A BREEAM rating of excellent was achieved by drawing heavily on the PassivHaus approach. The PassivHaus Planning Package (PHPP) was used as a valuable design tool.
The Teplo-L-Tie was chosen as part of the projects fast build programme. The versatility of the L-Tie allowed for the inner block wall to be erected first and for work to begin on the interior fit out. The outer brick wall was built later and the Teplo L-Tie used to tie the two leaves together over a 300mm cavity filled with mineral wool insulation. Building the inner leaf first allowed work to start earlier on the interior fit out, thus speeding up the overall build programme.
Centre for Medicine, University of Leicester
At 13,000 square metres the Centre for Medicine, University of Leicester is the largest PassivHaus certified building in the UK to date.
The £42 million project was initially conceived as a zero-carbon development but was later upgraded to target the more demanding PassivHaus standard.
The building was designed to accomodate nearly 2,400 students and staff. External walls on the ground floor and first floor were built traditionally using brick and block with an insulated 300mm cavity.
The Teplo range was perfect for the project, ensuring the performance of the brick-and-block wall was maximised. The added thermal performance allowed architects to incorporate features such as floor-to-ceiling windows without straying outside thermal performance limits for Passiv Haus certification. In total 6,000 Teplo Ties were used to connect brick and block in mortar beds and a further 4,000 Teplo-L-Ties were used to connect masonry to the in-situ structural frame.