Southampton Care Home Roof Fire Protected Using A1 Rated Cemgold

IPP LTD’s A1 rated high density cement board, Cemgold, has been used as part of the flat roof build up on a new care home complex in Southampton. The care home is due for completion later this year, in compliance with both Building Regulations and UK building insurance guidelines.

Adanac Park is being built for Hamberley Developments by Highwood Construction with North Yorkshire based sector specialist Harris Irwin Architects tailoring the design to meet the needs of those with dementia or different neurological conditions.

The 95,000 sq ft facility comprises two U-shaped buildings either side of a shared service block, with the neurological clinic containing a gym as well as treatment and consulting rooms, while the residential wing has 80 high specification en-suite bedrooms offering long term accommodation.

Fire Protected Roof

The project manager for Highwood Construction, Paul Davies, commented: “We have undertaken a number of care sector projects and carry out most of our contracts within a 50-mile radius of Southampton.

“In the case of Adanac Park, when it came to the roof, the architects Harris Irwin specified the use of a Euro Class A2 fireproof board for the perimeters and our design coordinator confirmed with Building Control that they would be happy with 18mm Cemgold.

“The purpose is to maintain fire compartmentation in the roof void beneath the Cemgold – being a far safer alternative to plywood – and the roofers found it easy to overlay the boards with the single ply roof membrane.

“We have used various cement boards in the past but the Cemgold has proved very robust and straightforward to cut and fix – provided you have the right blades, as well as complying with the fire requirements. We would certainly consider using it again.”

Interestingly, the 12.5 mm version of IPP Cemgold also found a slightly unusual application within the care home, being used to fireproof the rear of special Memory Boxes which have been built into the corridor walls of each of the bedrooms. These not only bear the room number in large bold numerals, but allow the patients to store photographs and other memorabilia to help their mental orientation.

Cemgold

All of the Cemgold used at Adanac Park has been supplied through Elliotts builders’ merchants in Eastleigh.

Available in thicknesses of 6, 10, 12.5, 16 and 18mm, the 1200 x 2400mm sheets of Cemgold are widely specified across the construction industry for interior and exterior applications including in combination with IPP’s Magply boards, as a sheathing in rainscreen cladding build-ups or as a render substrate. With a density of 1309kg/m³, Cemgold offers a maximum flexural strength of 12.74 MPa in the longitudinal direction, as well as good impact resistance. Then in terms of fire performance, the product is fully tested to BS EN12467 and rated A1 incombustible.

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