Thermal break solutions specialist, Armadillo, was appointed by engineering firm, Craddy Pitchers Davidson to provide an innovative thermal bridging solution for Aldi’s £25m distribution centre in Cardiff, which is part of a £109m UK investment programme.

The project involved insulating the centre’s 1,000 sqm cold store room, which is used to stock thousands of frozen and chilled products before they are distributed to Aldi stores across the UK. Due to the nature of the project and the building’s energy efficient design, it was essential that the most innovative thermal bridging solution was implemented, to ensure that the temperature of the cold store room was not compromised.

With this in mind, Aldi needed a solution that ensured the building columns did not bridge the slab insulation but still supported the desired load. Designing with building longevity in mind, Aldi had dismissed the use of hardwoods such as Iroko timber, which were historically used for thermal bridging in column isolation projects. Although hardwoods are capable of high-load requirements and offer good insulation when dry, they absorb moisture over time. At this point, when the timber becomes damp, the thermal insulation is dramatically reduced and there is a risk of the timber rotting.

Armadillo’s solution, Armatherm™ 500, ticked all of the boxes and helped to avoid the issues associated with using timber for column thermal isolation. The specialists’ material is an ultra-high density PU foam, which offers thermal conductivity as low as 0.05W/M°K. The closed-cell structure of the product also means that the application will not wick moisture, which allows insulation performance to be maintained for the life of the building.

The product’s conductive properties, partnered with high-compressive strength up to 27N/mm2, makes it an excellent application for high-load construction projects and the perfect solution for Aldi.

With regards to the installation, Armatherm™ 500 bearings were positioned beneath each steel column base plate. The remaining floor area was covered with a low density polystyrene insulation, in a thickness of 200mm. A 150mm deep concrete screed was then installed to form the freezer room floor. Armadillo’s product worked to prevent a thermal bridge across a high-load bearing connection, where traditionally a performance compromise has to be struck. Since the installation, Aldi has appointed Armadillo to provide thermal breaks for three more distribution centres across the UK as a result.

Commenting on the project, Armadillo’s managing director, Jonathan Shaw, said: “As this job called for a material with high-compressive strength and fantastic insulation properties, Armatherm™ 500 was the perfect solution for Aldi.

“Due to its closed-cell nature, our product will not absorb moisture, yet it provides the thermal performance similar to low-density products and offers fantastic load carrying capability which is exactly what the client needed. A material with all of these qualities is highly sought-after in today’s energy conscious market and many competitor products are over specified for these kind of applications so cannot fulfil this demand economically.”