PR 35623 

Rocky Mount - luxurious self-build construction

Rocky Mount is a high-quality self-build located in the remote fishing village of Port Logan, on the Rhins of Galloway, Scotland. All of the joists and trusses for the house were manufactured and supplied by Wolf Systems licensee, E&H Baxendale of Chorley, Lancashire. 

Designed by architect, Iain MacFadzean of Ardwell, Stranraer, the house features five bedrooms and is of rendered aircrete-block-construction with 50mm of cavity insulation and 50mm of internal insulation to deliver high levels of thermal efficiency. 

The ground floor slab is of concrete block-and-beam construction with a "wet" underfloor heating system. 

The roof is supported by a combination of attic trusses and raised tie trusses with dormer windows to create habitable roof space. The suspended floors are all supported with Wolf Systems' easi-joist metal-web joists. 

The house is roughly L-shaped, with one wing roofed with attic trusses and the other with raised-tie trusses. Attic trusses are designed so that the room is effectively built into the truss with the horizontal tie running beneath the floor. 

Raised-tie trusses are used when the room height is required to be higher than the wall plates. Unlike other trusses which are supported on the ceiling tie, raised tie trusses are supported part way up the lower end of the rafters. 

Using these trusses enabled architect Iain B MacFadzean to keep the roofline relatively low on the exposed coastal site while still delivering a full two-storey construction. 

The use of easi-joist metal-web joists for the suspended timber floors allowed the extensive building services to be routed within the floor space. With four en-suite bathrooms in addition to the usual kitchen and bathroom facilities, and a hot-water ring-main to ensure rapid delivery of hot water to each hot tap, there is a great deal of pipework to feed beneath the floors. 

In addition to the usual wiring, heating and water pipework, Rocky Mount is also equipped with a central vacuum system. This replaces the need for a conventional vacuum cleaner and enables the occupier to plug a vacuum cleaner hose into the special socket in each room. 

The dust and detritus picked up by the vacuum system is routed via a network of underfloor pipes to the central pump and collector located in the garage. 

As the name suggests, metal-web joists have a lattice of slender steel nail-plates fixed either side of the timber flanges to create a strong, lightweight beam.

With easi-joists, unlike conventional solid timber joists and engineered timber I-beams, there is no need to punch or drill penetrations through the web. Pipes, wires and conduits can be fed through at any point without compromising the strength of the joist. 

The abundant space within the easi-joist webs also made it easy to accommodate the extra pipework required for the hot-water ring-main. 

The trusses and floor joists were all designed using Wolf's tried-and-trusted Wolf-Win software. Following completion, the house was retrospectively modelled as a demonstration project using Wolf's latest Revit-based Horizon design software. 

This fully-interactive 3D model gives users a detailed view of the structure as it actually is and, as part of a project-based Building Information Model, allows structural timber details to be shared with the other trades and designers on the project. 

The model also provides the building occupier with an unprecedented "user's handbook" in which every component of the building is identified and documented.-

For further information, please visitwww.wolfsystem.co.ukor call 02476 602303. 

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With compliments:

Philippa Worley

Taylor Alden
 

247 The Broadway

London SW19 1SD

Tel: 020 8543 3866

Fax: 020 8543 2841

email:philippa@tayloralden.co.uk