New Secured by Design system piloted on L&Q project

British Gypsum’s new Secured by Design (SBD) accredited GypWall QUIET system has been piloted on Block A of L&Q housing association’s latest project, which will see the former Erith Baths site transformed into affordable housing apartments.

The installation of the GypWall QUIET system, which incorporates Gyproc Habito® plasterboard, will help the project meet SBD standards, as well as the rigorous fire and acoustic Building Regulations.

British Gypsum’s new GypWall QUIET system was developed following discussions with Mark Dixon, Director of London-based S D Plastering and Lyn Poole, Development Officer at SBD.

Mark explains: “The problem we’ve had over the last few years is the complete inconsistency with how we achieve an SBD standard on site. We’ve used lots of different methods such as introducing ply and other materials, but it gives us all manner of problems when it comes to detailing. As such, after approaching SBD about this industry-wide problem, we had meetings with British Gypsum to discuss exactly what was needed and a fully SBD supported solution was developed following this discussion.”

British Gypsum reviewed its high quality fire and acoustic solutions to assess what could be modified into an SBD accredited system. After selecting GypWall QUIET, a twin frame high performance acoustic wall system, British Gypsum included an inner layer of its Gyproc Habito® plasterboard instead of the Gyproc SoundBloc plasterboard traditionally used.

Featuring an engineered core, Gyproc Habito® provides enhanced levels of strength, durability and fixability, resulting in walls that are able to support fixtures and fittings such as televisions or cupboards.

Incorporating Gyproc Habito® enabled GypWall QUIET to be the first lightweight partition system available on the market to fulfil the SBD attack requirement, after passing the onerous STS 202 BR1 test, as well as meeting both fire and acoustic regulations required by Approved Documents B and E for residential separating walls.

Once the system was SBD accredited, Mark informed British Gypsum about a live L&Q project in Erith, which S D Plastering were about to start work on – consequently, the system is now being piloted on the scheme.

David Martin, Senior Site Manager at L&Q, commented on the project: “We want our customers to feel safe and comfortable within the homes that we provide them, so  we ensure that all of our schemes are SBD compliant. On the Erith Baths project we decided to incorporate British Gypsum’s new GypWall QUIET system to give the best, most robust fire and acoustic system to not only fulfil the array of regulations, but also to provide our tenants with the level of security and assurance they required.

“When we decided to pilot the system, British Gypsum worked closely with the team at L&Q, the architect and acoustician on the project to educate them about the system and provide the details they required. This new system is very clean, simple and will benefit everyone within the industry as it will eliminate ‘hybrid’ systems, which have materials such as ply wood introduced in the build up of them – it’s a one stop shop system!”

Mark concluded: “For the first time we have managed to get a system on site that has the consistency, certification and everything we require to make sure it meets the SBD standard.

"The new approved GypWall QUIET system is not only easy to install, but means we are now dealing with fewer materials on site than we did previously. What’s more, the introduction of Gyproc Habito® gives tenants the added advantage of being able to fit fixtures such as TVs, radiators and cupboards anywhere on the party walls and know that they are going to stay put.”

The last part of the puzzle is the development of a Secured by Design Approved Installer course, which British Gypsum has designed to educate sub-contractors about the system itself and how to install it. This requirement was set out by SBD as the final step towards achieving full membership, as it ensures that the system performs as intended in situ and gives end users ultimate peace of mind.