A striking new three bedroom beachfront home on the UK’s East Sussex coast has been designed to not only respect its location within an area of Special Scientific Interest, but also withstand the challenging weather conditions as well as shifting sands, with Magply boards specified as part of both the roof and wall construction.

Sea Breeze at Camber Sands is being built by Coast View Property Ltd., with RX Architects being the locally based design practice leading the project.  The unique homes’ amenities will include a wellness spa with a steam pod, sauna and plunge pool, while the open plan living accommodation offers large expanses of glazing looking out across the beach.

The building is making use of non-traditional construction methods, which features twin 12mm layers of the rugged and versatile Magply boards as a carrier for a render like finish, applied by the Micro Cement Company across the entire envelope.  Some 190 of the 12mm boards have been supplied to the site through the Rye branch of Parker Building Supplies.

In the case of the habitable roof-space, the contractors are applying a single ply Renolit rubber membrane over a sarking board and then bonding aluminium rails along the line of the rafters, to which the two overlapping layers of Magply are fixed with stainless steel screws.  The pink coloured finish is then applied as a primer, base and pigmented topcoat.

The Associate at RX Architects leading the project, Rob Pollard, commented: “We have specified Magply for a number of projects, generally where there were fire protection issues due to the closeness of other buildings.  We know once it has been used to sheath the structure that we have the fire rating to safely timber clad over the top or use any other material.   In the case of Sea Breeze it also makes an ideal substrate for the Micro Cement finish, being so stable.  The designs are focused on creating a really robust covering for the rubber membrane that still allows us to obtain the warranty for it.”

Nick Browne from Coastal View Property, added: “Weighing 38kg each, the Magply boards are fairly easy to handle and cut, while we are having to predrill them here because of fixing into the aluminium channels bonded across the Renolit single-ply membrane.  We expect to be finished by the end of October, ready for the Micro Cement system to be applied.”

Magply offers a fire-safe and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional plywood or OSB products.  Additionally, the unique production process keeps the chloride content to just 0.01^%, enhancing both stability and long-term durability.  The different thickness of panels are also widely used as a substrate board for the direct application of proprietary render systems, as well as for flooring and flat or pitched roof build-ups.