Durban North Coast Beach Shack

This 3-bedroom residential house is located on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal and is a new build. The remarkable beach house project is a real-life demonstration of the Saint-Gobain building better approach, in which the comfort and well-being of the occupants are at the heart of the design and its execution

This home demonstrates that certain simple adaptations and material choices are required at the design stage to deliver against the homeowner's requirements for comfort and well-being in an energy-efficient home

• An EIA was performed by independent consultants. It included strict assessments of how the property design and building could impact the land and cause minimal disruption.
• The house sits on concrete stilts on a floating slab, located 1.8 m above ground level. This facilitates airflow for mass cooling in summer.
• The nature of the environment – temperature range from 10° C in winter to a high of 32° C in summer, plus the humidity necessitated the incorporation of lightweight building methods and elements.
• The proximity to the beach creates a noisy environment. Appropriate acoustic measures were specified and facilitated by a combination of Saint-Gobain solutions.

• Ceiling products supported by Aerolite® which has exceptional acoustic insulation properties; it enhances your indoor.
• 135 mm Aerolite® glasswool with up to 85% recycled glass above the ceiling boards which exceeds SANS 10400-XA requirements for the region as well as a 200 mm air gap under the roof.
• The wall cavities contain Isover® Cavitybatt™/Cavitylite® insulation to an R-value of 2.68 m2k/w.
• The interior walls and interior drywalls – track system insulated with 102 mm Isover Cavitylite.

• Aerolite® 135 mm in the roof.
•  Isover® Cavitybatt™/Cavitylite® 102 mm supports improved acoustics.

• Indoor environments perform better for acoustic and thermal comfort while promoting required passive fire safety.
• The ceiling and walls perform to levels above the requirements in SANS 10400-XA which delivers cost savings as less cooling or heating is required to keep the house comfortable.