Glidevale for Scottish Passivhaus

Protect BarriAir and VC Foil Ultra, the air and vapour control layers from Glidevale Protect, have been specified and installed by design and build contractor Stewart & Shields in what it says is Scotland’s first multi-storey Passivhaus building, providing social housing apartments for Shettleston Housing Association. 

Used as part of a conversion project at Old Carntyne Church in Glasgow, the construction involved mixing traditional construction with new, with the church structure being restored alongside a new build extension which was built offsite. Renamed Cunningham House, the development is reportedly one of Scotland’s most energy-efficient affording housing schemes and the city’s largest Passivhaus development to date, winning the Best Affordable Housing Development (Urban) category at the 2019 Inside Housing Development Awards.

Working with Page Park Architects for the main project design and John Gilbert Architects for the Passivhaus element, Stewart & Shields delivered 19 apartments. 14 of these were conventionally built flats within the existing church structure, with the remaining five units being constructed within the new build timber frame five-storey extension which was built to full Passivhaus Standard and is independently certified by the Passive House Institute, Glidevale Protect says.

Derek McIlreavy, Stewart & Shields’ business development and design manager, commented: “The specification of materials for this development was based on the need for a high quality end result to meet strict Passivhaus criteria.  We knew that Protect BarriAir and VC Foil Ultra would be up to the job in terms of airtightness to help us achieve the critical results needed to be independently certified. 

“We had to beat 0.6 ach-1 @50Pa for airtightness and our tests showed a result of 0.33 which overall gave an added value solution to our client that helps to futureproof these homes going forward.”

Glidevale's BarriAir and VC Foil Ultra membranes form part of a comprehensive range of wall, ceiling and floor construction membranes alongside roofing underlays and accessories, “ideal” for traditional and offsite construction, Glidevale Protect says.

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