A phased student accommodation development is nearing completion in Sheffield with highly engineered, offsite construction making extensive use of Magply fire protection boards, specified by the timber frame specialist for their non-combustibility, structural racking strength and ease of use.
Oakworth Homes is undertaking the complex build on Infirmary Road for a private student sector developer, currently completing erection of the four storey block that forms Phase II of the work. Based on the standard version of Oakworth’s Varytherm Timber Frame range, the panels are sheathed in 9 mm thick Magply boards up to the underside of the top floor to guard against the risk of fire spreading to adjacent properties.
“This is the second and smaller phase of the work on the Infirmary Road site, having already built a larger block for the same client last year,” says Lee Wild, Production Manager for Oakworth Homes. “The current building will provide two further five bedroom cluster flats across each of four floors above the podium level, which contains commercial space. The neighbouring buildings only rise to three floors, so, the outer walls of the upper story are covered by OSB. However, below that, we install Magply to protect against any fire breaking out, including covering the vulnerable first floor “belly band” around the 300mm deep engineered timber floor joists. The Magply also returns for a one metre width across the ends of the front elevation to complete the Fire protection.”
As well as being a major player in the student accommodation and other volume markets, Oakworth Homes has established its Benchmark Selfbuild service to help individual clients fulfil all their creative aspirations. The manufacturer’s energy efficient and very flexible designs all being based on the Varytherm platform, which can provide three different wall constructions, with U-values down to 0.10 W/m2 K.
“We have shopped around over a number of years and found that Magply offers the best value for the application,” adds Lee. “Our people on the production line definitely discovered that it not only cuts better, but the boards are not prone to cracking or splitting even when fixed with pressurised nail guns. Sometimes the design requires that we reduce from nailing at 150mm centres down to 75 or even 50 mm if the structural calculations detail it. It all comes down to the engineering and design and we will always factor in the fire safety requirement’s both during and after construction, advising clients that inclusion of Magply fire protection boards within the timber frame design will ensure that all fire safety standards are met or exceeded.”
Crucially, Magply carries internationally recognised accreditations confirming the boards’ ability to meet and exceed required fire safety standards in all applications under UKAS-accredited test conditions. Furthermore, the range offers excellent racking strength, impact or pull-out resistance and all round ease of use in a variety of applications. Magply has been tested according to BS EN 1365-1 for load bearing applications, BS EN 1364-1: 2015 and BS EN 476 Part 22 for Timber Frame applications, also parts 6 & 7 ensuring Class O certification for surface spread of flame together with other approvals such as EN 13501-1 to certify Magply is Euroclass A1 non-combustible.
As a high performance, multi-functional board, Magply is especially formulated to offer a fire-safe and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional plywood or OSB products. Additionally, the unique production process does not include the use of chloride during manufacture, this ensures a near zero level of chloride within the product providing a stable addition to the building envelope that is guaranteed not to damage timber frame through mould or rot and will not corrode steel or fixings.
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