Construction starts this month on the next home at the BRE Innovation Park in Watford.
The ‘Wienerberger e4 brick house’, designed in conjunction with Arup, will be the first house built to the Building Research Establishment’s New Homes Standard, which will be introduced in March
Founded in Austria in 1819, Wienerberger is the world's largest producer of bricks as well as number one on the clay roof tile market, BRE says. It is also a leading provider of wall, roof, landscaping and pipe system innovations. In the UK Wienerberger has four showrooms, 14 factories and six distribution depots.
Wienerberger says that its e4 brick house represents energy, economy, environment and emotion. The three-bedroom detached house will have a clay building envelope, which is expected to reduce energy needs. It will be not too expensive, have a low carbon footprint and be designed as house in which people might actually want to live.
BRE says that its new housing standard will allow developers to differentiate their product in the marketplace by recognising performance beyond minimum regulation and provide increased choice for the consumer.
BRE business development director Miles Watkins said: “We are very pleased the Wienerberger e4 brick house is coming to the Innovation Park and to have it pilot our new homes standard. In the UK we have a critical need for quality, affordable, sustainable homes that can be delivered with speed. We are currently managing to deliver 125,000 housing units against the estimated 250,000 required – homes like the e4 can help us close the gap”
Wienerberger category marketing manager Richard Brown, project leader for e4, said: “The Innovation Park is home to some of the world’s finest examples of sustainable buildings, landscape designs and hundreds of pioneering low carbon materials and technologies. This is the perfect setting to showcase the Wienerberger e4 Brick House concept.”
Construction of the Wienerberger e4 brick house is expected to be finished in early spring and officially opened in April 2015.
