One Vision Housing is a social housing provider managing over 11,000 homes in Sefton, Liverpool.
Their Litherland BISF properties are a post-war prefabricated steel framed structure, produced by the British Iron and Steel Federation. These properties were not only unattractive, but are also extremely difficult to heat due to the poor thermal properties of the structure.
Wetherby Building Systems partnered with One Vision Housing to refurbish the BISF homes. One Vision Housing needed to not only improve the poor insulation and thermal inefficiency of its BISF properties but also give them a modern new facelift. Tackling the relatively unattractive steel façade, Triangle Architects created a unique design incorporating WBS Brick Slips and 1.5 Silicone ‘K’ Render.
The windows on the homes presented a technical challenge, being set into metal pods that protrude from the front elevation. To envelope the window pods and prevent thermal bridging, Wetherby designed the EPS insulation to be pre-formed at the factory to fit around pods and give a seamless façade.
Contractors Skyline Construction Services Ltd & Astley Facades Ltd installed the system. The render, applied in brilliant white, was used on the central facades of the semi‐detached properties, while the WBS Glazed Brick Slips encapsulated the area around and above the door and wrapped around the side of the properties in a stack bonded pattern. Specially sourced black brick slips were chosen for the majority of the area, with brightly coloured brick slips providing relief detail around the entrance areas. The overall effect was to give an eye-catching, modern finish to the homes.
The WBS Insulated Render System with 100mm EPS insulation massively reduced the homes’ U-value from 2.79 W/m2K to 0.30 W/m2K. The refurbishment has also meant an estimated reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 200 tonnes a year (50% reduction) and will help to reduce tenants’ bills by an estimated £300 per year.