Porotherm, Wienerberger’s clay block walling system has been used to construct a new McCarthy and Stone development, in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, consisting of 32 one and two bedroom apartments, and is the third Porotherm development to be undertaken in the West Midlands region.
Despite not being initially designed and planned as a Porotherm project, the decision was made to construct the apartments using the system due to the immediate interest shown in the properties, which resulted in a requirement for a quick construction process.
Having experienced a quick speed of build on previous Porotherm projects, McCarthy and Stone specified the system working in partnership with EH Smith and Wienerberger.
With block work having commenced on site on the 25th of March, roofing works then commenced in early April, meaning it is expected to take just over six weeks to roof the project, compared to an average of 16 weeks using traditional methods. This quick speed of build also affords the opportunity to progress with the internal aspects of the build, with a considerable amount of internal fitting commencing much earlier than would be expected traditionally.
Phil Griffiths, Porotherm Sales Manager at E H Smith commented: "EH Smith and Wienerberger are working collaboratively with McCarthy and Stone to enable them to maximise the benefits of building with the Porotherm system.
"The Ashby scheme is one of a number of projects either successfully completed or under construction, and the results achieved have been acknowledged by McCarthy and Stone as impressive. We look forward to working closely with Wienerberger’s Porotherm technical team and McCarthy and Stone to develop and supporting a growing number of projects.
"We’re thrilled to have been able to supply products and support the development of new apartments at the development in Ashby de la Zouch, and are particularly pleased that both McCarthy and Stone and E H Smith see the vast benefits of utilising Porotherm as a construction method. It’s great to see that the apartments have started to take shape, and we are excited to be working with the team on similar projects in the future."