Roofshield - NW Bicester

An example of how timber is playing a major role in the UK’s first eco-town NW Bicester is a collaboration between Stewart Milne Timber Systems and the A. Proctor Group, which is providing high thermal performance using off-site modules for rapid construction.

Work began on NW Bicester in November 2014 and will eventually see up to 6,000 homes constructed. The first phase of A2Dominion’s development in the new town is a project to deliver 393 homes with a ‘true zero carbon’ rating and offering energy efficient, good quality, affordable housing. Working with Stewart Milne, the A. Proctor Group has supplied its Roofshield and Reflectashield TF 0.81 membranes for pre-assembled modules for the project. These pre-assembled elements enable a pair of semi-detached homes to be weathertight, secure and fully insulated within 72 hours. This method is also helping to provide a safe as well as efficient delivery of the homes on site. Airtesting is being conducted prior to first fixing in order to provide assured fabric performance.

Roofshield is an air and vapour permeable roofing underlay which provides a high degree of water resistance and which has been made to the same high specification for nearly 20 years. The product provides the most cost-effective solution to controlling interstitial condensation in a pitched roof. Reflectashield TF 0.81 is a vapour permeable low emissivity membrane for use externally on timber frame buildings. The A. Proctor Group has re-tested Reflectashield TF 0.81 at the National Physics Laboratory (NPL) resulting in an uplift of the claimed thermal performance to an R-Value of 0.81m2K/W. The first phase has been designed with a Fabric First approach, including renewable technologies but keeping the central focus on the building fabric as part of creating a sustainable community. The homes will attain Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) Level 5.