An updated look at Alfold Gardens: a Unilin Insulation case study

At Unilin Insulation, we believe every project tells a story and some stories deserve a fresh look!

We’ve updated our Alfold Gardens case study with new imagery, giving a closer, more detailed view of this award-winning residential development in Cranleigh, Surrey.

Alfold Gardens is an architecturally acclaimed development of 56 two, three, four and five-bedroom homes, built on the former seven-acre site of Alfold Garden Centre. Designed by John Pardey Architects for Q Development, the scheme was purposely planned to create an elusive village feel, offering a contemporary addition to the historic Surrey village of Cranleigh.

The project’s ambition was recognised industry-wide, winning the Housing Design Awards‘ ‘Masterplan Award 2020’ — a testament to the quality of design and construction throughout the site.

A fabric-first approach with Unilin Insulation

Energy efficiency and airtightness were central to the brief at Alfold Gardens. With a strong focus on mitigating thermal bridging at every junction, Unilin Insulation’s technical team was engaged at design stage to specify the right insulation solutions for every element of the build, from foundations to roofline.

The team carried out detailed U-value calculations and condensation risk analysis to support a genuine fabric-first design philosophy; ensuring the building envelope itself did the heavy lifting when it came to thermal performance, before mechanical systems were even considered.

Product specification

Unilin’s ECO360 range — a bio-enhanced, halogen-free PIR insulation with over 50% reduction in packaging — was specified across the development:

• Ground floor: ECO360 MA (Floors) insulation, achieving a U-value of 0.11 W/m²K
• Walls: ECO360 Cavitytherm 360 insulation, achieving a U-value of 0.13 W/m²K
• Roof: ECO360 MA (Roofs) insulation, achieving a U-value of 0.13 W/m²K

Together, these solutions helped reduce heat transfer through the building’s walls, roofs and floors, while supporting the development’s circularity and low embodied carbon goals.

Why we’ve updated the imagery

Photography plays a huge role in bringing a case study to life, and the new images now on the Alfold Gardens page give visitors a more complete picture of the finished development, the architectural detailing, the streetscape and the quality of the build that helped secure its award-winning status.

Take a look at the updated Alfold Gardens case study to see the new photography, or browse our full library of UK case studies for more examples of Unilin Insulation solutions in action across residential, commercial and self-build projects.

Working on a project with similar fabric-first ambitions? Talk to our technical team about specifying the right insulation solution for your build.