Wilmcote House Residential Refurbishment

Wilmcote House, our project for Portsmouth City Council, involved the refurbishment of three 11-storey linked residential blocks to the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard. As such the building has been clad in high quality non-combustible mineral wool insulation and all of the homes have been fully compartmented thereby preventing the spread of fire between flats both internally and externally.  The building was constructed in 1968, and a number of major elements of the building were coming to the end of their serviceable life with the result that the building required major refurbishment. 

The success of this project has been studied by both Southampton University and the LSE – with Southampton University monitoring the building’s thermal performance before and after the project’s completion, and the LSE surveying residents before, during and after the works to understand the challenges and benefits of working with residents in-situ, and what impact the project has had on their lives. 

Following the project’s completion, Southampton’s monitoring of the flats showed a significant increase in thermal comfort and reduced energy use, whilst the LSE report captured resident positivity satisfaction. An important step for the improvement of affordable homes, Wilmcote House continues to be presented and published within the press, and recognised by awards.

Awards:

• Winner: RICS Awards – Design Through Innovation category
• Winner: RICS Awards – Regeneration category
• Winner: Constructing Excellence Awards – Sustainability Category
• Winner: SHIFT Awards – Best Retrofit Project
• Highly Commended: AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards – Retrofit Revisited Category

Team:

• Portsmouth City Council – Client
• ECD Architects – Architecture
• Wilde Consulting Engineers – Structural Engineer
• Keegans – Quantity Surveyor and Project Management
• NLG – MEP
• Engie (now Equans) – Contractor

For further details, see movie below by Rockwool (the leading supplier of fire resilient stone wool insulation providing solutions for all major application areas including technical and OEM) in which ECD MD James Traynor and Regional Head of Sustainability Loreana Padron discuss the project, or click here for the project booklet.