© 2026 Kingspan Holdings (IRL) Limited, All Rights Reserved
Canterbury Christ Church University’s new Daphne Oram Creative Arts Building sits on the outskirts of a World Heritage Site. Nicholas Hare Architects and principal building contractor – Coombs – worked to develop a sensitive design which is separated over three volumes and uses brick and reconstituted stone to respond sensitively to the surrounding context. The building features a range of rehearsal, exhibition and performance spaces includes glass floor sections that display elements of the original St Augustine’s Abbey precinct wall, which sits beneath.
Delivering excellent energy performance was also a priority, with the building designed to achieve BREEAM ‘Very Good’. Project M&E consultants, Max Fordham LLP, carefully developed the building services specification to minimise plant energy use. As part of this approach, Therma Duct Insulation was specified as part of the mechanical ventilation system servicing specialist music rehearsal spaces on the ground floor.
Therma Duct Insulation offers a simple insulation solution for lagging rectangular, circular or flat oval ductwork. The boards provide excellent insulating performance with a thermal conductivity of 0.023 W/mK, limiting heat transfer to and from the ductwork.
(Images courtesy of Canterbury Christ Church University)
The ductwork insulation also offered a number of advantages during installation. Its rigid design supports simpler installation of vapour barrier tape and finishing materials for a continuous vapour barrier. It also avoids overstretching of the insulation and helps to maintain specified thicknesses at corners when applied to rectangular ductwork and at junctions with the HVAC equipment. This helps to ensure the ventilation system achieves the energy performance expected.
