New initiatives and
activities are happening all the time
at Palgrave Brown and we are
often featured in the trade media. To
keep you up-to-date with what's going
on we've featured our latest press releases
here. Simply click on the heading to
go to the text.
The World of Golf driving range
in New Malden is one of the most
popular in Europe, so when it needed
to extend its facilities to create
a new double storey building – for
a golf shop, office and store – in
double quick time, it was the SIPS
system from £66 million UK timber
engineering company Palgrave Brown
that proved a hole in one.
John Cleary, site manager for
building contractors Brymor
Contracting, said: “We certainly
got the job because of the speed
with which we could deliver using
the Palgrave Brown SIPS system.
We knew we could achieve the tight
deadlines with a comfort zone.
“The building was originally specified
using block and brick but there was no
way that could be achieved on time.
Instead, just six weeks after Palgrave
Brown first came on site, the job is
complete.”
Palgrave Brown’s lightweight SIPS
solution, with its outstanding thermal
efficiency, creates a quick, airtight
and low carbon timber construction
solution. And the Palgrave Brown SIPS
design service takes the worry out of
the design stage, as clients simply submit
their plans and the company does the rest.
World of Golf in New Malden has a floodlit
driving range on two tiers with 60 heated
bays, an all-weather putting green and
practice bunker plus fully-qualified PGA
golf professionals available for lessons.
The new building has a glulam portal
frame incorporating SIPS, which was
specified instead of a steel frame
because of the speed of construction
required. Palgrave Brown also provided
a staircase for the shop and office block
as well as PosiJoists for its flooring,
which combine the lightness of timber with
the strength of open web steel and are
ideal for jobs that require long span joists.
No job ever runs smoothly, but the simple
SIPS system means that many problems can
be quickly resolved. John continues:
“When we got on site there had been a slight
alteration to the plans and we had to trim
the building by 400mm. But using SIPS that
wasn’t a problem for us as, even though the
panels were cut to size prior to delivery,
we were able to alter the panels on site.
SIPS is really flexible that way and we find
it very good to work with.”
Palgrave Brown, the £66 million UK timber engineering company, has enjoyed global coverage by featuring prominently in this year’s Oxford v. Cambridge Boat Race.
Around 7.6 million viewers in the UK and an estimated global audience of over 120 million in 180 countries saw the name Palgrave Brown emblazoned on the winning Oxford boat as it powered to victory in the154th annual boat race.
In fact, the boat was named in honour of Alan and Alastair Palgrave-Brown, twin brothers who both coxed for Oxford around the time of the Second World War and whose family went on to become benefactors of the University Boat Club.
The Palgrave-Browns’ family business was a timber importer and merchant based in Norfolk and when today’s company was selecting an identity to reflect the expertise it was able to draw on from among its corporate group, Palgrave Brown was viewed as the name with the best-known heritage.
Steve Pinner, operations director at Palgrave Brown, explains: “The national and international exposure we’ve had as a result of the boat’s name must be worth millions! We’re pleased that Palgrave Brown’s established tradition of timber expertise lives on and are extremely proud to have this association with the famous Boat Race.”
The Boat Race is one of the most prestigious and longest-running events in the UK sporting calendar, having first been held back in 1829, and is seen as marking the start of the English ‘social season’. The international class eight boats used for the race weigh 96kg (211lbs) and are 19.9m (62ft) long, and although the shells were traditionally made from wood, they are now generally made from carbon fibre and materials such as Kevlar.
Posi-Joists from
Palgrave Brown, the £66
million UK timber
engineering company, have
featured on Channel 4’s
popular Grand Designs TV
show in a £725,000 project
in Bristol known as the
Sugar Cube house.
Martin Pease, a commercial
architect, designed his
‘sugar cube’ open plan dream
home for his wife Katherine,
two children and two dogs,
with everything in white.
The steel and timber frame
project was completed on
budget – land costs of
£425,000 and build costs of
£350,000 – and with a rapid
build time of just under a
month.
Unusually, due to the nature
of the design, Posi-Joists
were incorporated placed
vertically as well as
horizontally for the floor
and roof support and
Palgrave Brown designers
assisted with the design and
unusual application of the
Posi-Joists.
Dave Atkins, product manager
for Posi-Joist at Palgrave
Brown, comments: “The Sugar
Cube is a great project to
demonstrate the product’s
versatility, and we are
delighted that Palgrave
Brown’s design service was
able to give the customer
the design flexibility he
wanted.”
Exeter-based Westructure
Timber Frame (01392 411211,
www.westructure.co.uk) used
Martin’s ideas and design to
produce detailed drawings
and a CAD 3D image to take
in the structural,
environmental and conceptual
requirements and specified
Posi-Joists. Peter Doman,
managing director at
Westructure, explains: “This
was the first time we’d used
Posi-Joists in vertical
alignment. It meant we could
have large ceilinged rooms
as well as fulfil Martin’s
vision of wide open spaces.”
The highly-insulated Sugar
Cube four-bedroomed home is
virtually all open plan, and
half the ground floor space
has double height ceilings.
To add to the light and
spacious feel, the house
also features a full height
glass wall overlooking the
garden.
The Posi-Joist system,
available from Palgrave
Brown, combines timber and a
Posi-Strut steel web which
means it can span far
greater distances than
alternative products.
Because the Posi-Joist also
eliminates the need for load
bearing intermediate walls
it is ideal for a variety of
internal room layouts,
giving design flexibility,
while its fixing surface
makes for a truly quiet
floor.
The Posi-Joist, which is
both lightweight and strong,
is easy to fit with
trimmable ends and its open
web design makes it ideal
for discreetly installing
services without the need
for sawing gaps. Palgrave
Brown, with 17 national
network sites, has Posi-Joist
manufacturing capacity and
Posi-Joist designers at its
branches in Widnes, Yeovil
and Boston, as well as a
sales and central design
office at the Nuneaton
office.
The Posi-Joist, which is
both lightweight and strong,
is easy to fit with
trimmable ends and its open
web design makes it ideal
for discreetly installing
services without the need
for sawing gaps. Palgrave
Brown, with 17 national
network sites, has Posi-Joist
manufacturing capacity and
Posi-Joist designers at its
branches in Widnes, Yeovil
and Boston, as well as a
sales and central design
office at the Nuneaton
office.
For further information about the Sugar Cube project, visit
www.chanel4.com/4homes
31/01/2008 - DOUBLE AWARD RECOGNITION FOR PALGRAVE
BROWN
Palgrave Brown, the UK’s £66 million leading engineered timber specialist, has helped two
developer customers to pick up regional awards in the National House-Building Council’s (NHBC)
annual Pride in the Job awards.
The awards went to the site managers of two projects in the
South West, in Exeter and Devizes. The Exeter project was a C G Fry & Son Ltd. mixed development
of houses, apartments and some social housing, while the Devizes project was a McCarthy & Stone
retirement housing project.
The Yeovil branch of Palgrave Brown worked closely with the developers’ site managers to
ensure trouble-free delivery of timber supplies as and when they were required, with flooring
supplied to the Exeter site and trusses to the Devizes site. This level of partnership supports
the project by avoiding holding stock on site, while offering flexibility so that any changes to
requirements can easily be accommodated.
NHBC set up its 'Pride in the Job' (PIJ) competition in 1980 to seek out the UK's best site
managers and reward them for creating quality, beautifully finished new homes. The drive for
quality is at the heart of the prestigious awards, which focus on the day-to-day operation of
the building site and the work of the site manager.
Nick Fricker, general manager at Palgrave Brown Yeovil, comments, “Our team is extremely
pleased to have contributed to the success of our developer partners. The work that the NHBC
does to raise standards in the housing construction industry is recognised nationwide and to
have two of the projects to which we have contributed win an award is an excellent endorsement
of Palgrave Brown’s complete ‘on time, every time’ reputation.
“The awards acknowledge not just excellence in materials but also the contribution to
performance of individual site managers and we regard these support services to be an equally
important part of our total offering,” he continues.
Palgrave Brown has the engineered timber industry’s widest and most comprehensive product
portfolio, including roof trusses, SIPS, MDF mouldings, stairs, and doors, as well as being
a distributor for the i-Level Silent Floor System.
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