A view to the future

SIPs TEK new home

Julie and David Clements wanted their new home in Yorkshire to be eco friendly, energy efficient and easy to manage in their retirement.

“ W e wanted to make the best use of the site to create an attractive and practical family home. Our vision was a saltbox design with a blend of traditional stone, slate and contemporary windows,” explains Julie Clements, describing her new home in NorthYorkhire.

After semi-retiring, Julie and her husband, David, wanted to build a new modern, low-maintenance lifetime home on a 0.6 acre plot in the grounds of their original 1903 stone house. Although downsizing, they didn’t want to downgrade, so with architect Vic Craven from Craven Design, they drew up plans for an energy-efficient SIPs home which was small enough for the couple to manage in retirement, yet flexible enough to welcome family.

Inspired by the traditional saltbox homes of New England, Raikes Corner sits perfectly within the Skipton Conservation Area and complements the traditional stone and slate homes found in the Gateway to the Dales.

As far as possible, the Clements wanted to use local suppliers, materials and trades to reduce the carbon footprint of the build. Fortunately, their SIPs supplier, SIPS@Clays, is less than three miles away, and local recycled stone was used for the cladding.

The three-bedroom home, which achieved an 3 2impressive airtightness of 1.5m /h/m , was built using the 142mm Kingspan TEK building system. It is clad with close-jointed traditional stone with a slate roof and has solar panels incorporated into the SIPs roof, an MVHR system, underfloor heating and bespoke triple-glazed Weru windows.

One of the advantages of the 142mm Kingspan TEK system is the option to add an additional layer of internal insulation. David and Julie’s new home has 220mm of dense insulation in the slab, an additional 50mm on the inside of the SIPs panels on all exterior walls, and 100mm on the roof panels. This continuous layer of insulation covers all posts and lintels and, together with minimising the steel used within the structure, substantially reduces cold bridging.

An MVHR system and triple glazing keep

EXTERIOR

The saltbox design features single- and double-storey sections, with a large southfacing roof with five Velux roof lights. The house is constructed using SIPs and the exterior is clad in local stone. The build was completed in just eight months.

heating to a minimum, which helped the house achieve a SAP rating of A98.

The SIPs roof allows additional internal height in the entrance hall and kitchen, as well as the upstairs bedrooms, and was also key to the saltbox design, with a single-storey, south-facing frontage, double storey to the rear and an asymmetric roof. The large southfacing roof has five Velux windows and 14 in-roof solar panels to generate more electricity than the couple use. The SIPs roof also minimises the ridge height to 6.9m.

Prefitting the windows in the SIPs made it quick and easy to get the structure weathertight so the build could proceed efficiently. The time-consuming application of the external stone cladding could proceed at the same time as the internal works. The SIPs structure also offered flexibility with some of the internal walls so, for example, the walls in the en suite bathrooms were positioned to fit the 1,700mm shower trays and in the main bathroom to best suit the large 900mm tiles.

SIPs also came into their own on the tight site, which has a tricky access from the main road. This would have been a challenge for a traditional build but with the efficient delivery of all the components the superstructure was installed swiftly.

Raikes Corner is an exemplar of the advantages of SIPs construction, taking just eight months to complete what is a stunning new home.

DOWNSTAIRS

Large glazed pocket doors can divide the sitting room when required. A playroom for grandchildren also leads off the entrance hall. There is a downstairs en suite bedroom for lifetime living which has large windows with garden views. Thresholds have been avoided and wider doors throughout allow wheelchair access.

KITCHEN

To enhance the kitchen views, picture windows sit flush with the Corian work surfaces. This was achieved with the SIPS@Clays team, Weru and the kitchen designer and contractor Roger Tiffany working closely together.