British Gypsum plaster and plasterboard has been used in a contemporary housing complex developed by Taylor Wimpey in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, to help the housebuilder meet thermal and acoustic requirements.
The large scale new-build development includes 159 apartments and 50 three-storey terraced houses.
For ease of application and speed, British Gypsum DriLyner Thermal Laminate (TL), a drywall masonry lining system, was used on partitions and separating walls. The system offers a quick and easy solution to drylining brick, block, and concrete walls.
Tony Butcher, senior project manager at Taylor Wimpey , said: “Due to the size of the project – and the strict timescales we were working to, we needed a solution that required as little labour as possible. Drylyner TL was easy to use and really simplified the installation process from start to finish.”
The system, which features adhesive dabs to bond the plasterboard onto the walls, was also used to meet acoustic performance in accordance with Part E the UK Building Regulations, to provide superior sound insulation.
For further acoustic performance, Gyproc Soundcoat Plus was used on the partition walls in both the apartments and terrace houses. This parge coat – a gypsum based compound designed to seal masonry walls prior to drylining – was used to minimise air leakage through cracks and unfilled joints, improving energy efficiency and limiting noise pollution.
In keeping with the sustainability focus of the project, Taylor Wimpey also took advantage of the British Gypsum Plasterboard Recycling Service in order to minimise the environmental impact of the project. Tony Butcher said: “The Plasterboard Recycling Service was a great help. It was a cost-effective recycling option that not only saved us a lot of time and effort, but also helped us meet our sustainability objectives. British Gypsum supplied the skips we needed for the waste products and took them away to be recycled at its onsite recycling facility.”
