Housedeck is now becoming recognised as the foundation system with the best environmental performance. Abbey Pynford provided Housedeck as the foundation for the new Oxford Citizens Housing Association development in Tiddington.
Abbey Pynford’s revolutionary foundation system, Housedeck, was used as the solution for a new social housing development in Tiddington, Warkwickshire. With an estimated 30% reduction in carbon footprint over other foundation methods, the system was selected over traditional as the most cost effective approach. The original scheme involved traditional footings ranging from 1.0 to 3.0 m with traditional substructure brickwork and pre-cast floors. Housedeck proved to be more cost effective because of the significant reduction in tipping costs. The site is contaminated, which meant that all material removed from the site would attract high spoil removal and tipping costs. On analysis of the Housedeck system, Leadbitters found that the savings were clearly worth while, and combined with the speed of construction and the ‘Low risk’ features of the Housedeck system, made their decision even more obvious.
As part of a development for Oxfordshire Rural Housing partnership, Abbey Pynford was appointed to provide the foundations for the Station Yard development, consisting of five blocks of semi-detached houses built for social housing. Not only did Housedeck meet the fast turnaround requirement, it also proved to be highly cost effective compared to the traditional strip footings when it came to contaminated land disposal.
Paul Kiss, Abbey Pynford’s Technical Director commented; “Our Housedeck system is increasing being chosen for particularly challenging brownfield and contaminated sites as it offers many advantages over the traditional excavated or piled approaches. The most obvious benefit is the ability of the system to facilitate the re-positioning of piles if obstructions are encountered, thus minimising downtime and extra costs. We have been delighted to work with the Oxfordshire Rural Housing partnership to provide the foundation for this new development.”
Housedeck also avoids the costs of addressing gassing issues on most sites. The voided system will address Amber 2 sites and the in house design team are equipped to advise. Because Housdeck has such a low construction depth, minimal dig is required, so little dust, vibration or undue noise is generated and the spoil-away can be deposited around the surrounding site – avoiding any requirement for inefficient transportation.
There are four versions of Housedeck available – all of which meet NHBC and LANTAC technical requirements. A standard ground bearing slab; an anti-heave option incorporating a void; a gas membrane option; and vibro replacement stone columns. The voided system is ideally suited for use on complex brownfield sites that incorporate hazardous soil gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, or radon and – and allows optimisation of land use that might not otherwise have been possible.
Abbey Pynford also offers a special Arboricultural Package, which can guarantee to avoid severing tree roots. ‘The package includes many options and can work with the Arboriculturist to ensure we satisfy their requirements says Paul Kiss.
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