INCA Case Study: Morriss House, Nottingham


 

Morriss House, Nottingham


Project Type: New Build

Building Type: High Rise, Residential

Architect: Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson

System Designer: Aliva UK

Installer: Stoneguard (North) Ltd.

System & Finish: Aliva UK’s Termok8 Modular D Clay slip

U-Value After: 0.10W/m²K

A sharp, sustainable PBSA build

Morriss House is a signature five-block £57million, 705-bed new build graduate student accommodation development in Nottingham for Unite Students.

Morriss House offers state-of-the-art student accommodation, study and collaboration space and is named after Richard Morriss Woodhead, co-founder of the bike workshop which later became the Raleigh Cycle Company.

Unite Students is leading the UK PBSA sector and is committed to NZC operations/developments by 2030.

Morris House is a flagship sustainability build, running on renewable electricity with solar panels on the roof and an all-electric heating system, including air-source heat pumps. It features Aliva UK’s EWI and clay brick slip system as a complement to both the project’s aesthetic and sustainability credentials.

The system was chosen for its thermal value, commercial benefit and for its ability to achieve the architectural design intent.

Sharp aesthetic

Aliva UK’s Termok8 Modular D Clay slip system has created the intended aesthetic, an academic campus with ‘village feel and appeal’.

It features an A1-rated EWI brick slip system, with combinations of over 8,000sqm red and buff clay slips including acute and obtuse angled slips. Aliva also supplied several hundred sqm of its ALI-Stone 3, 30mm natural stone rainscreen cladding system as an elegant accent feature to the campus.

The brick slip system includes a number of sharp angles and standout features in the deployment, from very acute to very obtuse corner slips and a traditional brickwork corbel effect detailing to the top floor windows creating stylish flair against the city’s skyline.

Of the corner slips, 2,810 were non 90° in various angles that create the sharp angles of the development’s aesthetic. From very acute to very obtuse, the tightest acute angle was 50° and the most obtuse at 140°.

It features five blocks, three red brick slip blocks in a mix of five and six storeys and two buff brick slip blocks, a three and six storey, four are interconnecting with one standalone.

Corbelling creates skyline flair

To achieve the traditional brick effect of corbelling above all the uppermost windows on the buff blocks, angular slips were cut from traditional bricks to create the staggering effect that reaches towards the skyline, creating a complement to the sharp, pointed angles of the building’s design.

A series of vertical recessed channels in three of the blocks break up the overall mass. This adds relief to the facade, mimicking the appearance of a typical suburban town house, helping to ground the building and create a more domestic feel.

Design intent

Andy Swift, Associate at the project’s architect Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson, said:

“Using the Aliva EWI insulated render system, which we combined with a purpose-made clay brick slip facing (in a mix of buff and red), we were able to achieve the intricate brickwork detailing that formed an important part of the architectural aesthetic for the facade. This included a series of vertical columns of projecting header bricks, and a raking corbelled head detail above the uppermost glazed panels. The final result being a great reflection of the initial architectural intent.

 

“This was paired with the Aliva Ali Stone, stone rainscreen cladding system, which we finished with an off-white natural limestone panel. This helped provide a grounding for the 3-storey office development that fronts the Derby Rd side and complemented the buff brick finish above.

 

“In addition to the aesthetic benefits, the use of both systems offered a significant saving in terms of embodied carbon, as well as contributing to the overall thermal performance of the external envelope.”

Sustainability/thermal value

This system complemented the project’s sustainability credentials, given the thermal efficiency benefits that the EWI brick slip yield.

The project had several detail interfaces, however the U-Value achieved was 0.10W/m2k. This thermal value was inputted into the final thermal calculations for the entire building.

The clay brick slip system also reduced material and weight on the project plus brick slip production requires approximately 85% less energy than conventional brick production, adding to the NZC contribution.

Installation

The installation contractor was Stoneguard (North) Ltd. The system was installed over a lightweight steel frame with a 12mm cement particle board to the outer-face. The lightweight studs were infilled with mineral wool and finished internally with a Vapour Control membrane and 2 layers of gypsum plasterboard.

The Aliva system was directly fixed using specified mechanical fixings, with the insulation layer installed board-by-board, including a cementitious levelling layer to the rear of the insulation. This allowed any tolerances within the frame to be adjusted and a vertically level face provided for subsequent layers.

The required number of fixings were installed, using engineered wind calculations. Once the boards were installed reinforced cement basecoat layers were applied. The first, allowed the insertion of a reinforcing mesh, lapped to create a monolithic covering across the entire facade. This mesh was also mechanically fixed with stainless steel fixings and washers to comply with fire requirements. Once the final layer of basecoat was applied and smoothed the basecoat was allowed to cure.

Once cured, the cement-based bedding mortar was applied to the surface and the 15mm clay slips installed by embedding the slips into the bedding mortar. Full embedment was achieved. This continued to achieve the brick facade. The slips were then pointed with an Aliva  pointing grout and struck to achieve the final finish.

Aliva also supplied their Ali Stone rainscreen cladding. The interface details were key, to ensure the junction between the two different systems was fully sealed and weather/water tight. This was achieved by installing the EWI/brick slip system first and closing the edges of the system with returning basecoat and sealing beads, with the rainscreen system installed once this element was completed.

 Unite Students comment

Unite Students’ Project Manager for Morriss House, Adrian Muir, said.

“The scale and location of this flagship project dictated the need for an innovative approach to be taken to its construction, not least the material selection and methods of working.

 

“This made the decision to use the Aliva brick slip system a reasonably straightforward one; especially when considering the programme gains against traditional brickwork construction.

 

“We at Unite have set ambitious NZC targets, and here again the Aliva brick slip system has contributed to us meeting our businesses expectations for delivering attractive, sustainable buildings.”

We at Unite have set ambitious NZC targets, and here again the Aliva brick slip system has contributed to us meeting our businesses expectations for delivering attractive, sustainable buildings

Adrian Muir

Project Manager for Morriss House, Unite Students

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