INCA Case Study: North Ayrshire Council EWI Programme 2022

North Ayrshire Council has a longstanding relationship with Marley Contracts service from Bishopbriggs in the north of Glasgow. This relationship goes back over 15 years. Marley Contract Services during that period have worked with KK Contracts who are a registered Sika External Wall Insulation applicator. Between Marley Contract Services & KK Contracts they have delivered several thousand homes with a mixture of measures which includes: EWI, new roofs, and Solar Photovoltaic systems.

North Ayrshire Council are the client and also acted within the capacity of architect for this project, which was spread over different addresses in the Dalry area of North Ayrshire.

Sika has worked closely with all stakeholders to provide U-value calculations, specifications, standard and bespoke details, technical support, and general advice regarding the specific requirements of the property archetypes.

There is a mix of dwellings types from bungalows, townhouses in blocks of four, semi and detached properties, and also a number of low-rise blocks of flats. The majority of these properties are of traditional construction with some Weir timber properties.

There is a very low percentage of voids at around 1% of the dwellings.

In order to achieve the project’s low u-value, it was necessary to utilise 80mm of Phenolic within the EWI system. This is the preferred board of North Ayrshire Council and they have a long history of using this type of insulant. The EWI system was finished with a dry dash finish, comprising of a white dash receiver and Tudor 80/20 dashing aggregate.

Full project details: undertake combined re-roofing, re-rendering, external wall insulation, and in-roof solar panel installation works to domestic properties.

In order to mitigate cold bridging, the existing gas boxes were removed and reinstalled after the EWI system was installed. Furthermore, the roof lines were extended in order to accommodate the new EWI system. The extended roofline afforded the benefit of protecting the facade from weather and the potential for water ingress, it was due to these concerns that the decision was taken to extend the roofline as opposed to using a verge trim.

Sika very much look forward to continuing to work with North Ayrshire Council as they upgrade further homes in due course with the Sika EWI system. As Sika will be continuing this successful relationship and providing all necessary information, advice, and suitable specifications for future works and we look forward to a long and beneficial partnership with all stakeholders.