Bath Row

CHALLENGE

The Bath Row development scheme is part of a £350m project initiated by Birmingham City Council and is due for completion in March 2007. After that, Bath Row will consist of 451 student bedsits and studios in an 11 storey block, helping to create a major city centre “urban boulevard”.

Bath Row is in the heart of Birmingham which means it is difficult to transport building materials to the site. The building is an 11 storey, 462 bedroom, light steel frame construction built floor by floor – this meant insulation materials needed to be, literally, dropped into each room as it is built, while still sticking to the rigid delivery timetable set due to the city centre traffic.

A quick and efficient packaging and delivery solution was required to enable the project to be completed on time.

SOLUTION

Knauf Insulation supplied over 23,000m² of its 100mm Rocksilk Universal Slab RS45 to the Bath Row project developed, along with a further 12,000m² of its 50mm product.

Rocksilk Universal Slab RS45 is an unfaced rock mineral wool multi-purpose slab perfect for the thermal and acoustic insulation of buildings. It is classified as noncombustible and carries a Euroclass A1 fire certificate. What’s more it is odourless, rot proof and vapour resistant making it ideal for the use in all the walls within the project.

A spokesperson Mick Duffy, Project Manager for HBG Construction, said: “The development is built across different levels with the two lower ground floor levels residing between the Canal Side Tow Path and the Bath Row Carriageway with a further eight storeys above road level. Two tower cranes were used in the construction of the frame and for the installation of the pre-fabricated panels meaning all materials used had to be manageable – Supakube was ideal.”

Due to its outstanding qualities, Rocksilk Universal Slab  is a very popular product within the Rocksilk product range. As well as being easy to handle and practical to install - it will simply friction fit between rails or similar rainscreen cladding supports - it will adapt to minor imperfections in the main structure ensuring the insulation envelope is always complete. What’s more, contractors are increasingly choosing Supakube rather than competitor ‘handball’ material thanks to its flexibility.