RIBA Stirling Prize Winner - Goldsmith Street, Norwich

Goldsmith Street is an exemplar social housing development by Norwich City Council that has recently been awarded The RIBA Stirling Prize 2019, the UK’s leading prize for excellence in architecture.

Based in the centre of Norwich, the pioneering 93 property scheme, designed by Mikhail Riches Architects and constructed by R G Carter, is one of the UK’s largest Passivhaus developments, offering sustainable urban living and located within walking distance of central Norwich.

Designed to achieve Passivhaus standard, the properties have excellent thermal performance, exceptional airtightness and mechanical ventilation that provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling.

Passivhaus developments demand meticulous attention to detail, and rigorous design and construction. PermaRock’s Technical Services team was engaged early in the design process to assist in the detailing and specification of the PermaRock external wall insulation system, providing considerable support throughout the design and construction phases to the Architect, Main Contractor and to PermaRock’s registered installer, Rendserve Ltd.

On commencement of the works on site, PermaRock provided support to the project stakeholders with technical backup and regular site visits (inspections), ensuring the stringent, and sometimes complex, detailing was achieved and the external wall insulation installation met the demanding standards required to meet the thermal performance and airtightness requirements.

PermaRock has longstanding expertise and knowledge of supplying external wall insulation systems for use on low-carbon buildings, including involvement in many Passivhaus projects, such as the first certified Passivhaus school and one of the first non-domestic buildings to achieve Passivhaus certification in the UK.

We can advise from the design stage through to installation on how the external wall insulation element of a project can meet low carbon design requirements and contribute to or exceed Passivhaus, BREEAM and similar performance standards.

Through the use of a PermaRock external wall insulation system, heating demand can be dramatically reduced, conserving energy and reducing CO2 emissions and very airtight façades can be created - important factors in the design of energy-efficient buildings.

Please give our technical department a call on 01509 262924 for further information or if you have a project where you are considering external wall insulation for a low / zero-carbon development. Alternately, email us at enquiries@permarock.com.