TEK Building System
High performance structural insulated panels
River Beal is the largest scheme to date from Partners Foundation, providing 37 supported living apartments along with staff accommodation, allowing occupants to live independently whilst retaining constant access to expert care. The site is separated into two blocks and has been designed to foster a sense of community including a number of large communal spaces and a café. Its construction has been supported with funding from Funding Affordable Homes and Homes England.
LOCATIONRochdale, UK
ArchitectMcVeigh Offsite Ltd
ProductsTEK Building System
An extra care living development in Rochdale has taken advantage of the streamlined construction and excellent thermal performance provided by the Kingspan TEK Building System, installed by Kingspan TEK Delivery Partners, McVeigh Offsite Ltd.
River Beal is the largest scheme to date from Partners Foundation, providing 37 supported living apartments along with staff accommodation, allowing occupants to live independently whilst retaining constant access to expert care. The site is separated into two blocks and has been designed to foster a sense of community including a number of large communal spaces and a café. Its construction has been supported with funding from Funding Affordable Homes and Homes England.
Modular construction
With the new blocks expected to act as an exemplar for future extra care schemes, the project team took an active interest in exploring how offsite construction approaches could benefit the development. After researching different options, they chose Kingspan TEK SIPs to form the external walls of the building.
The panels feature a rigid insulation core, which is sandwiched between two layers of oriented strand board/3 (OSB3). Using the initial building plans, McVeigh Offsite Ltd developed a 3D CAD model identifying how the SIPs could be cut to shape to form the structure of the building. Once these designs were agreed, McVeigh Offsite Ltd then manufactured the SIPs on a production line, ensuring the cut panels precisely matched the required project dimensions including openings for the specified windows and doors.
Once production was completed, the panels were individually numbered and supplied to site with matching plans, enabling the site team to quickly identify where each panel needed to be installed. The panels feature a cassette joint, which allowed them to be easily and snuggly fixed together. This clear, modular approach allowed the erection process to progress smoothly, despite the challenges posed by COVID site restrictions.
Once the external breather membrane was applied along with the windows and doors, the shell was effectively weathertight, meaning that work could begin on internal fit-out whilst the external façade was being installed. The timber facing of the SIPs can be battened to support a wide range of different facades. For the River Beal care home, this included a mixture of traditional brick and render.
Energy efficient
In addition to supporting an efficient construction process, the SIPs also allowed the project to adopt a fabric-first approach to complying with Part L of the Building Regulations. The 172 mm SIPs allow U-values of 0.17 W/m2K or better to be achieved without the need for additional insulation. In addition, the unique, insulated cassette joint helps to maintain improved insulation continuity across the building envelope, limiting heat loss that can result from thermal bridges at joints between the panels or around the windows. A number of pre-calculated details can also be supplied with Kingspan TEK SIPs to help project teams to address these areas.
Page Reviewed 22/07/25
Products Used in this Project
Find out more about the products used on this project below