Sustainable, highly energy efficient and finished in just 12 weeks. Why isn’t Britain building more early years facilities like this?
The Paulton Nursery is a 60-place early years facility for under-fives and is part of a wider and ongoing redevelopment of former commercial land, which has brought new homes to the area. TG Escapes, the award-winning supplier of eco-friendly educational buildings was involved from the early stages of the project following a recommendation to the developer from a previous TG Escapes customer.
TG Escapes’ experienced in-house team undertook the design and specification of the building in collaboration with the developer and the architects working on the wider redevelopment. The nursery was designed to have the smallest possible environmental footprint. In addition to the extensive use of timber, the building was designed to maximise energy efficiency and features an air-source heat pump to provide heating and a rooftop solar PV array to generate electricity.
The single storey building features modular pre-insulated timber frame panels for the exterior and interior walls with structural elements manufactured from glued laminated timber (glulam) and timber posi-joists for the roof. These elements were manufactured in the TG Escapes factory in Coventry and transported to site on a Just in Time basis and assembled. The outside of the building is completely clad in heat treated timber (thermowood), which provides a natural appearance that helps the building blend with the green public space that forms the other half of the redeveloped site. The thermowood also delivers excellent durability and weather resistance.
‘We have long championed the use of sustainably sourced timber in construction. For a learning environment in particular, timber is an ideal choice as a natural, warm and welcoming material,’ says Dan McAleer, Sales Director at TG Escapes, explaining why timber was so important to the concept of the building. ‘Beyond this, with sustainability now a priority, many clients are keen to look at net zero more holistically by considering both energy in use and embodied carbon. It is increasingly clear that net zero embodied carbon is only possible by using timber, due to its carbon sequestration properties.’
Using modern methods of construction in the form of the modular offsite manufactured elements meant that the time required on site was minimised and delays avoided. Despite the construction taking place between February and April 2024 – three months marked by persistent rainfall – progress was not impacted by the weather. With groundworks completed, the superstructure was weathertight in under 3 weeks with the building finished in just 12 weeks – exactly in line with the program set out during planning.
The use of timber-based MMC also had further benefits for the project. Firstly, the controlled environment in the factory allowed increased accuracy and improved quality control, helping to achieve the high levels of energy efficiency. The swift on-site construction and reduced material deliveries also helped to minimise disruption to the wider scheme where a second phase of the housing development was being completed as well as soft and hard landscaping works in the surrounding areas.
TG Escapes is a member of the STA and holds STA Assure Gold status, showing the business demonstrates the highest levels of quality, compliance and best practice as a provider of structural timber buildings. STA Assure, the association’s quality assurance scheme, is recognised by a range of industry-leading structural warranty and building control bodies as well as other stakeholders such as insurers.
‘The combination of timber construction and MMC has numerous advantages, but for many clients it is still a departure from their tried and trusted approach to projects,’ says Clive Hicks, Project Manager at TG Escapes, emphasising the value of STA membership. ‘Being a member of the STA gives us genuine credibility as a business and means clients can have confidence that everything we do, from design to manufacturing to construction on site, will be fully compliant and completed to the highest standards.’
Images: TG Escapes / Structural Timber Association
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