Skip to content
BPindex — The Largest Building Products Directory in the UK

H+H Celcon Blocks

Celcon Blocks play their part in Manchester Airport transformation

Building Products Index Ltd Blocks, Concrete, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

View the H+H entry on BPindex

Visit the H+H website

Celcon Blocks High Strength Grade were chosen for their lightweight properties and fire resistance as part of an ambitious £440 million refurbishment of Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2, one of the most complex live-airport construction projects undertaken in the UK in recent years.

The refurbishment of the original Terminal 2 building represents the final phase of Manchester Airport’s wider £1.3 billion, 10-year transformation programme, designed to modernise the airport and significantly increase its capacity.

McCrory Construction Group Ltd was appointed to deliver the builders’ work package. The scope included delivering over 1,000m² of blockwork across a wide range of locations in the terminal, all carried out in a live, high-security environment.

Product specification

Celcon Blocks High Strength Grade were specified for the project. The blocks were used across a range of applications, including extending and altering existing internal walls, infilling former doorway and window openings, extending two lift shafts, and constructing new internal blockwork walls.

Billy Douglas, Head of Operations at McCrory Construction, explains why Celcon Blocks High Strength Grade were the right choice:

“We were working inside a 40-year-old building, altering and extending existing walls, so keeping weight down was a key structural consideration. The aircrete blocks were specified because they’re robust but also lightweight – approximately two-thirds of the weight of a standard dense concrete block – which was essential for reducing the load on the existing floor slabs and structure.

“On top of that, the airport is a high-security environment with stringent fire safety requirements, and the A1 non-combustible classification of the Celcon Blocks fitted the brief.”

Manchester Airport Terminal 2 is a compelling example of the benefits Celcon Blocks can bring to demanding non-residential applications. Lightweight enough to meet stringent structural requirements, strong enough for a high-traffic airport environment, the blocks provided McCrory Construction with a reliable, high-performing solution for a complex, high-profile project.

To find out more about H+H aircrete products, visit https://www.hhcelcon.co.uk/

H+H MMC system chosen to deliver high-quality affordable homes

Building Products Index Ltd Concrete, Concrete wall panels Leave a Comment

View the H+H entry on BPindex

Visit the H+H website

Social housing provider Stonewater is building 39 affordable new homes at Shiremoor Hill, Merriott in Somerset, in partnership with local housebuilder Galion Ltd.

To support its commitment to delivering high-quality, safe and sustainable homes, with a strong focus on energy efficiency, build quality and customer wellbeing, Stonewater selected the Celcon Vertical Wall Panel (VWP) system from H+H.

Building energy efficient homes

For affordable housing providers like Stonewater, build quality is critical. In addition to providing safe, comfortable homes, it is responsible for maintenance over the long term, so durability and consistent performance are essential.

Aircrete is well suited to this brief. It is robust, resistant to damp and mould, fire-resistant and offers excellent thermal performance. When supplied as storey-height panels, it also supports a more airtight building fabric – the reduced number of joints means fewer potential weak points in the walls – as well as delivering significant advantages in construction efficiency.

Tim Barnes, formerly Head of Construction at Galion Ltd, comments: “The benefit of the system is ease of installation, but more so the quality of the internal walls that we can produce. There are far fewer joints and the airtightness is excellent.

“For this site, there was a requirement to build to EPC B, however the houses will achieve EPC A, with SAP scores of 93-96, thanks to the combined performance of the Celcon VWP system, solar panels and air source heat pumps, exceeding Stonewater’s expectations.”

Speed of build

Another reason that the VWP system was specified for the Shiremoor Hill site was for the time saving it offers.

Giuseppe Zeffiretti, Director of Acorn Innovations, the sub-contractor commissioned to install the system, comments: “After the groundworks have been completed it takes us seven days to build a house with the system. That’s five days from ground floor to roof, and two days to get the roof trusses on. And you’re getting the quality of a robust, traditional build structure.”

Tim concurs: “The speed of using VWPs is comparable to timber frame, while avoiding the compaction and movement that can occur in loaded timber frame structures. Compared to the traditional method we can knock three weeks off the superstructure build programme quite comfortably.”

On site support

The H+H technical advisor visits site approximately once a week to review progress and advise on any design changes. Giuseppe comments:

“We get a lot of support from H+H. When we first started using the system they sent a trainer to site, and he stayed with us for two weeks to make sure we were competent installing the system. They also come and train any new workers that we take on.

“We have the weekly visits from the technical team and if we have any questions, they’re always on the end of the phone and we usually get an answer within an hour. H+H has been alongside us all the way.”

A first for WholeHouse

Shiremoor Hill is the first social housing project to be delivered using the WholeHouse platform from Travis Perkins. The BIM-based platform enables users to design, configure and generate accurate construction drawings and bills of materials quickly and efficiently.

Michael Leverton, Head of WholeHouse says: “The platform provides pricing and embodied carbon data for different building elements, enabling housebuilders to make informed design decisions upfront.

“The Celcon Vertical Wall Panel system is a good fit for the WholeHouse platform. It’s an MMC system offering speed of build, but it uses local trades and doesn’t have the upfront cost of offsite or timber frame systems. We’re really pleased to be working with H+H and keeping masonry at the forefront of building.”

Looking ahead

As demand for affordable housing continues to grow, systems that combine speed, consistency and proven performance will play an increasingly important role in delivering homes that stand the test of time.

For more information visit: www.hhcelcon.co.uk

Why locally made aircrete blocks make sense

Building Products Index Ltd Blocks, Concrete Leave a Comment

View the H+H Ltd entry on BPindex

Visit the H+H Ltd website

Buying British should be a strong ethical choice as UK factories are some of the safest in the world.

For decades, the UK has led the way in placing worker welfare at the centre of its manufacturing sector. Long before ethical sourcing became a global concern, the UK had already established rigorous safety standards and clear accountability. That legacy continues today, making locally manufactured products a responsible and reliable choice.

A key turning point came with the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974. At the time this was a milestone in legislation to protect the safety of workers. Rather than relying on a mix of industry-specific rules, the Act created a broad, adaptable framework that put responsibility firmly on employers to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.

Supported by an independent regulator (now part of the Health and Safety Executive) this single piece of legislation paved the way for modern Health and Safety management across the manufacturing sector.

Over the years, additional regulations have been added, addressing areas such as machinery standards, manual handling and chemical safety. The result is a continuing decrease in the incidence of work-related accidents in UK factories.

Although many countries have since followed suit, comparative data shows the UK remains ahead of the curve: 90% of UK workplaces routinely carry out health and safety and risk assessments, significantly higher than the European average of 77%.

When viewed globally, the contrast becomes even clearer. Accident rates in UK manufacturing are consistently among the lowest in the world, lower than many European nations and well below those recorded in countries with sizeable industrial sectors, including the United States.

While no factory can ever eliminate risk entirely, the UK’s combination of strong legislation and deeply embedded safety culture delivers a level of protection that few regions can match.

For anyone sourcing building materials, worker welfare should be part of the decision-making process. In complex international supply chains, it can be difficult to understand the conditions under which products are made. Choosing UK-manufactured materials removes that uncertainty. For housebuilders, this means supporting both the domestic economy and a manufacturing sector that takes its duty of care seriously.

This is one of the reasons H+H continues to invest in its UK production facilities. H+H Celcon Blocks used in British housebuilding are manufactured domestically at its site in Kent and two plants in East Yorkshire. Buying locally made aircrete not only supports regional employment but also ensures that the blocks used on projects are produced within one of the safest manufacturing environments in the world.

Keeping workers safe isn’t just an internal responsibility for employers; it’s an ethical choice for customers too. By selecting British-made products, housebuilders can help uphold the highest standards of safety and contribute to a supply chain that values people as much as performance.

To find out more about H+H, visit hhcelcon.co.uk

Sources:
HSE comparative statistics – https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/european/
International Labour Organization – https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/