.jpg)
Avon Fire & Rescue Service is not only saving lives, but also energy and money with the construction of a new fire station at one of its existing sites in central Bristol, insulated with Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board.
Faced with shrinking budgets, the Service started to look for savings within its property portfolio, identifying Temple Back Fire Station as a target for improvement. The size and poorly insulated design of the existing building, which also houses the service’s headquarters, makes it uneconomically expensive to maintain and run having been built back in 1973. To address this, the building is being demolished in stages, with a new three storey replacement fire station being erected at the rear of the plot on a much smaller footprint, whilst the remaining space is to be sold or let.
Willmott Dixon are overseeing the design and construction of the station, alongside AHR and AECOM consultants. To keep running costs low, the energy performance of the building envelope was a key consideration. A target U-value of 0.23 W/m2.K was set for the external walls of the building, and to help achieve this, without reducing useable internal space, Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board was specified.
The Class 0 rated product offers outstanding insulation performance, with thermal conductivities as low as 0.020 W/m.k. It was fitted behind a dark grey zinc cladding on the entrance corner of the building, helping to break-up the largely brick façade.
The new station is targeting a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’ and Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board was also specified to support this effort. The insulation is rated ‘Excellent’ under the demanding BES 6001: Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products standard and holds a BRE Green Guide Summary Rating of A+. As a result, it can directly contribute towards the award of credits within the Materials section of the BREEAM assessment.
Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board was also the first insulation board for use in rainscreen cladding applications to have achieved LABC Registered Detail Status. This helped to streamline the Building Control checking and approval process on the project, saving both time and cost.
Chairman of Avon Fire Authority, Councillor Peter Abraham, commented:
“Designing the building from scratch has allowed us to meet the needs of this modern service, in a smaller building that will be considerably more efficient to run. We are committed to ensuring the same level of fire cover we currently provide in the city centre and this new station will serve the community well for many years.”
