Intro:

The social housing development of 105 ultra-low-energy homes for Norwich City Council, is the first social housing scheme to be shortlisted and win the coveted Stirling Prize. The prestigious award from RIBA, chaired by Julia Barfield, praised Goldsmith Street “as a modest masterpiece. It is high-quality architecture in its purest most environmentally and socially-conscious form.”

Cygnum Managing Director John Desmond stated…. “We are immensely proud of the major role Cygnum Building Offsite played in this project. We designed, manufactured and installed the highly insulated timber frame structures to a tight program and exceptionally high-performance standards. Our team were outstanding! Well done to Mikhail Riches and all involved”

As well as achieving the rigorous Passivhaus standard, the delivery team was faced with significant additional challenges including a short lead time and a limited budget. Installing such a large number of houses with limited space and access required careful planning and sequencing. The offsite nature of timber frame meant this could be done long in advance of work commencing on site. A delivery schedule was agreed (and adhered to) at the outset and this allowed the main contractor to synchronise other trades with precision around Cygnum’s works. Houses were checked for airtightness on an ongoing basis and cellulose insulation blown in under pressure eliminated performance gap concerns and added to the environmental credentials of the scheme.

Good timber frame engineering also resulted in an economic design, which in general terms means using less materials. In addition to this, in the building’s thermal envelope, less timber leaves more room for insulation hence the thickness of the walls and roof were kept as slim as possible.

This exemplary energy performance was achieved using a timber-based build approach –chain of custody certified throughout – that reduced the developments embodied energy