Foamglas meets the challenge
Curl la Tourelle Architects have specified Foamglas cellular glass insulation at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Junior School in London to meet the sustainable ethos of the architectural team.
The new junior school replaces the existing building on a confined urban site on Linacre Road, Willesden in London and provides a modern educational facility which improves on the previous building in terms of its aesthetics, performance and environmental impact.
Sustainable credentials
To contribute to the junior school’s positive sustainable credentials, the new building maximised the amount of natural light and ventilation, included rainwater harvesting systems and improved levels of insulation.
Lee Dyball, Architectural Assistant, at Curl la Tourelle Architects, said: “For St. Mary Magdalen’s new school we needed an insulation material that could perform well in a number of areas. Foamglas insulation was the most versatile material that had all the necessary properties. It provides the appropriate level of U-Values, is unaffected by moisture making it an ideal solution for use with the rainscreen cladding and has the necessary compressive strength to be used within the floor build-up.”
High performance
Foamglas is a high performance insulation material made up of hermetically sealed glass cells which are totally resistant to the effects of liquid moisture and gases. It is ideal for use on the exterior envelope of a building as well as the supporting structure due to its high compressive strength, ability not to deflect under compressive loads and its stability.
Lee added: “Our vision is to bring together design and sustainability in every building we create. In keeping with this ethos, the fact that cellular glass insulation has a 68% recycled content and will last the lifetime of the building was a clear advantage. We were delighted that the completed project was awarded the rating of Very Good under the BREEAM assessment which takes into account all of the elements of sustainability on the project.”