Lightweight durable facades feature

A development of timber frame houses that used John Brash’s Western Red Cedar shingles recently secured a place in the final of the 2009 Sustainable Housing Awards.

The awards recognise projects that demonstrate housing sustainability best practice and included judges from the BRE and National Energy Foundation along with leading developers.

John Brash’s Western Red Cedar shingles provided a lightweight and durable faÁade on the family homes, which were built for affordable housing group, Metropolitan Housing Trust in Lambeth, South London.

Timber shingles were chosen for this project as growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere locking it away for the lifetime of the building. Using timber building materials also creates a building with much lower embodied energy compared to most other materials.

The lightweight yet strong nature of Western Red Cedar enabled the shingles to be fitted on the overhanging roof parapets, helping the building designer ensure the properties integrated into the natural landscape.

The houses themselves were constructed using prefabricated timber paneled frames to ensure a speedy construction. The durability and longevity of shingles also enabled them to extend to the ground, enhancing the design purity of the unique and eye-catching curves.

The properties have been designed to meet at least ecohomes ‘excellent’ standard and current expectations are that this will be raised to zero energy standard. Choosing sustainable materials was therefore vital to achieve this goal.

More information: www.johnbrash.co.uk