Fergal McGirl - Conservation architect dublin


insulation/energy retrofit of a protected structure, balbriggan

by fmgarchitects.

web_IMG_9760

Bedford House , Balbriggan, Co. Dublin was originally constructed as a glebe/rectory c1750 but was converted to a nursing home at the end of the 20th century with a substantial single-storey extension to the rear. It is a protected structure with a regional rating of importance on the NIAH.

The new owners who wished to convert the building back to a dwelling contacted us in 2015 with a view to assessing the potential for a retrofit strategy for the building. An approach to wall insulation was facilitated by the fact that original wall features including shutter boxes and cornices had been removed at the upper levels with only four shutter box window surrounds surviving at ground floor level.

We had been impressed by the high thermal resistance and capillary active characteristics of Remmers iQtherm which had been applied to several projects examined by the European 3encult project. 50mm of Remmers iQtherm was applied to the walls at upper floor level following a robust hygrothermal assessment of the existing fabric. The material was carried through between the joists/floor zones and around window reveals to avoid thermal bridging.

At ground floor level, shutter boxes were extant to the four front windows and a Calcitherm calcium silicate board was used in these areas which was more suitable to fitting around the restricted space within the shutter boxes and around the existing window surrounds.

No comments on ‘insulation/energy retrofit of a protected structure, balbriggan’

Leave a Reply