Shropshire Affordable Housing

When senior architect and ‘Passivhaus’ Designer, George Mikurcik, was asked to clad an entire housing development in modified hardwood, he turned to Brimstone.

The Much Wenlock housing association development in Shropshire aimed to blend in with the rural surroundings. So George needed a material that not only looked natural, but also stood the test of time.

Brimstone fitted the bill.

Made to last

Brimstone is thermally modified, which means it’s been heated up to 210°. After this intensive heating process, the wood barely shrinks or expands - no matter how hot, cold or humid it gets.

It also becomes hardier. Which means it lasts outside for many decades. No rotting, no costly maintenance – and no need to slap on the woodstain every year.

Clean and consistent style

One other great thing about Brimstone is the way it looks. It’s relatively knot-free, which gives it a cleaner, more consistent quality. This made a big difference in this development, where there was a large area to cover.

Conservation at its heart

The Brimstone range is GIB certified, which means you can be sure of provenance and good woodland management. In fact, it’s the only scheme that focuses 100% on British woodlands by creating a demand for lesser-used white hardwoods.

On George’s approval, we supplied 15,000 mts of Brimstone poplar 20 x 95mm. Half to profile VHL4 for vertical orientation on the ground floor elevations, and the other half to profile VHL6 for horizontal orientation on first floor elevations.

Putting it all in place

The cladding was fitted with a second fix nail gun rather than first fix gun, using two 50mm stainless steel brad nails at each fixing point. This isn’t usually recommended, but the stability of Brimstone means it works well.

George was so enthused by the results, he used Vastern Timber’s Brimstone Ash decking outside his own Passive home too.