SIPS Play a Role in State of Art Build

Published by Angela May for McVeigh Insulations in Education

Pioneering construction techniques developed by McVeigh Insulations have played a key role in creation of a state-of-art, sustainable learning environment at Stockport College. The new Sir Joseph Whitworth building at the college is a central element of a £24m investment in construction and engineering workshops, providing specialist accommodation across four storeys for- among other skills- brickwork, construction, and plumbing, plus office space, classrooms and canteen. To help create the main structure, McVeigh Insulations, specialist SIPs (structural insulated panels) fabricator, worked closely with both architects Austin Smith Lord and main contractor Wates Construction, to devise a building that complied with all appropriate Building Regulations, achieved a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating- and could be built efficiently in the confined site adjacent to the existing college buildings and abutting the A6 trunk road. McVeigh’s solution was the factory fabrication of approx 1500m2 of 150mm SIPs, installed on site using the company’s unique ‘tight fix’ system, whereby a roof-mounted crane hoists each panel to the appropriate floor level on the steel structure, to be securely fixed into position from the inside: conventionally the panels would be fixed from the outside, via scaffolding, requiring encroachment onto additional surrounding land. Jim McVeigh, director at McVeigh Insulations, said, “We were involved very early on in the design and consultation process, which enabled the whole team to develop the best solution given the criteria and site constraints.” Tom Herd, senior design manager at Wates Construction, added, “SIPs, and McVeigh in particular, provided a value engineering solution. Our established relationship with McVeigh gave us the reassurance the project would be completed to the exacting standards, and in the timeframe, required.” SIPs are becoming increasingly popular because of their speed of build, assured quality, and their positive impact on the completed building’s carbon footprint. McVeigh can produce SIPs with a U value as low as 0.1W/m2k, as large as 7m x 3.8m- complete with window and door penetrations- without additional secondary reinforcement. McVeigh Insulations has over 40 years’ experience in creation of insulated structures with low air leakage, working for organisations including retailers Tesco and Sainsbury’s, hotel chains including Travelodge, leisure companies such as Xscape- building all of its indoor real snow ski slopes in the UK, and most major contractors. Its projects range from one of the first 1million ft2 cold stores in the UK through schools to housing.