The Building Envelope

“Did I make a mistake? Did I mess up this old building?”

These are the questions architect Níall Hedderman posed on his Youtube channel, Real Life Architecture, about an internal wall insulation specification for one of his projects. His search for answers led him on a journey through retrofit best practice to learning more about an insulation material that he describes as “supernatural” in terms of its performance properties.

It led to Níall and Proctor Group working together to explain how aerogel insulation can help to improve the energy efficiency of traditional buildings without covering up historic features, or taking up too much internal space.

The UK construction industry is under mounting pressure to meet stringent net zero carbon targets. Driven by frameworks such as the Future Homes Standard, regulations now increasingly require builders and developers to provide evidence that their materials and practices genuinely contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of construction projects.

This puts the onus on specifiers and sustainability leads to verify claims of carbon neutrality, while also seeing manufacturers use innovative materials and production methods which genuinely lower emissions.

As the built environment faces increasing scrutiny over its environmental impact, one tool is becoming indispensable - the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). But what exactly is it, and why does it matter?

For too long, material choices have relied on claims rather than comparable, verified data. EPDs are helping to change that.

In today’s regulatory environment, façade design demands more than compliance - it demands certainty, particularly for building owners and housing providers responsible and accountable for resident safety.

As a manufacturer of classified A1, high-performance cladding systems, Valcan recognises that façade safety cannot be achieved through individual products alone. It requires a fully integrated, system-led approach, where every design is reviewed holistically as a system to ensure compatibility. 

In a first for UK roofing, Edgemere 2.0 combines Marley’s familiar concrete roof tile specification with carbon-capture cement technology and Carbon Bank evidence supplied for every order.

The carbon reduction story behind Edgemere 2.0* begins with the cement. CO₂ from cement production is captured at source, before it enters the atmosphere, and permanently stored beneath the seabed. The carbon reduction is then recorded in the publicly available Carbon Bank, which allocates captured and stored CO₂ reductions to specific Edgemere 2.0 orders, with full end-to-end traceability through an Environmental Attribute Certificate (EAC).

The Birchett Road project in Aldershot involved the recladding of an existing building, delivering a high-performance, non-combustible aluminium cladding solution to upgrade fire safety, durability, and longterm façade performance. Situated within a prominent town centre location, the scheme required an external wall solution that would meet current regulatory expectations while also improving the visual coherence and consistency of the building elevations.

As with many refurbishment projects, the replacement of the existing external materials presented an opportunity not only to enhance aesthetics, but also to significantly improve the safety and resilience of the building envelope. The recladding strategy was therefore driven by a requirement for a compliant, robust and low-maintenance system capable of delivering demonstrable improvements in reaction to fire performance and longterm durability.

From July this year, the closure of Wren Insurance Association marks a pivotal shift in how professional indemnity (PI) risk is managed across the construction sector. While the immediate impact falls on architects, the implications extend well beyond design practices affecting contractors, developers and the wider supply chain at a time when building safety and compliance remain under intense scrutiny.

Valcan, manufacturer of cladding systems, works with project teams navigating façade design, fire performance and regulatory change. In collaboration with Consort Insurance, and drawing on insight from Daniel White, we’ve explored what Wren’s closure means in practice, why it matters now, and how firms can respond more resiliently.