Social Housing, High Rise: Refurbishment
Winner: Victor Street Tower, Roker, Sunderland

Victor Street Tower, Roker, Sunderland, is one of five 13-storey high blocks built in the 1960’s, which the Sunderland Housing Group required to be upgraded both thermally and aesthetically – to give the appearance of a new development.

The blocks are being overclad with PermaRock’s mineral fibre insulated system, incorporating 40 mm of mineral wool to achieve a U-value of 0.34W/m²K, surpassing current Building Regulation requirements. A silicone through-coloured render was applied, enabling the scale of the building to be accentuated by using balanced slabs of colour: as the building rises in height, so it becomes lighter in colour, utilising 12 colours, with a different colour range for each building.

The system designer was Permarock Products Ltd; the installer, George Howe Ltd – both INCA members.