Varsity Rise Development, Grimoldby

The Vickers Varsity was one of the training aircraft based at RAF Manby in the early 1960’s. Varsity Rise was the winning name from a competition held with the children of Grimoldby Primary School.  

This innovative project has been developed in partnership with Robert Woodhead Ltd, Jefferson Sheard Architects, SCNG Architects and Quadrant Surveying Ltd. It has delivered 12 high quality two and three bedroom properties for local people. The properties have achieved a Level 4 rating under the Code for Sustainable Homes, the first social housing development in Lincolnshire to achieve this standard.  

The Code for Sustainable Homes measures the sustainability of a new home against nine categories of including Energy and Water usage levels, Waste – household, Construction Site, Composting & Recycling, rating the 'whole home' as a complete package. It is the Government’s national standard against which all new homes are judged. The Code uses a 1 to 6 star rating system to communicate the overall sustainability performance of a new home. The achievement of Level 4 rating is something that LRHA can be proud.

The Kingspan TEK Building System being used is based on structural insulated panels (SIPs). The panels are joined together using a unique sealed jointing system that minimises the amount of air that can pass through the joints, making the homes very airtight. In addition, the design of the panel joints means a more continuous layer of insulation in the walls and roof. In a property constructed using the Kingspan TEK Building System, as little as 4% of the walls and 1% of the roof will be uninsulated. The overall result is that the Varsity Rise homes will be very energy efficient, making them very cheap to run from the point of view of heating costs.

The combination of an airtight building envelope and a MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery) system can mean that traditional central heating systems, which rely on hot water to heat radiators, may become a thing of the past. The properties of Varsity Rise have a communal biomass heating system providing all the heating and hot water requirements without producing the environment damaging carbon emissions of fossil fuels.

A Kingspan Solar array on each roof will harness the sun’s energy and uses this to provide hot water for each property free of charge - a bonus for the householder and the environment. The solar array, super insulated construction and communal biomass system are important features of  a development strategy that continues to reinforce our position as Lincolnshire’s leading environmental housing developers.