Client: Stewart Milne Timber Systems
Type of works: incorporation of Isokorb^® type KST thermal bridging module into Stewart Milne’s design package for thermally-efficient balconies.

Stewart Milne Timber Systems have cleverly incorporated the Schöck Isokorb^® type KST thermal break module into it's design package for various residential and housing association developments requiring thermally-efficient balconies.

An important partner in the affordable housing sector, Stewart Milne Timber Systems is well recognised for its innovative approach to problem solving and Structural Engineering Manager, Jeremy Collins, explains this latest application: “More and more of our clients want to incorporate balconies into their developments. Posted balconies are an obvious solution, but with an increasing need for openings at ground floor for vehicle access and security concerns, this is no longer favoured. So in cooperation with Schöck, we developed the idea of incorporating a steel framework within the timber frame with the type KST Isokorb^® providing thermally-insulated connections”.

A recently completed project that utilises this innovative system is a housing association development by contractors E G Carter in Old Bread Street, Bristol, where 30 timber frame units have been constructed as part of a larger development, which includes the refurbishment of a listed building.

Although the type KST thermal-break unit is designed primarily for steel-to-steel applications, its modular design means it can be adapted to become an enabling thermal connection. This makes it extremely versatile and totally effective with connections involving reinforced concrete balcony to timber beam floor; steel balcony to timber beam floor; reinforced concrete balcony to reinforced concrete floor and steel balcony to reinforced concrete floor.

The Isokorb^® also meets compliance with the Government Standard Assessment Procedure, SAP 2005, concerning CO₂ emissions from buildings, and respectively heat losses through non-repeating thermal bridges. Here, the lambda values of the Schöck Isokorb^® will enable the energy losses through balconies, canopies and other cantilever parts of the building to be reduced by as much as 84 to 91%.