Actis Insulation Hybrid range

Former Actis specification manager uses Hybrid range in his own Cornish developments

An unloved, abandoned care home and one time doctors’ surgery in a Cornish fishing village is to be given a new lease of life as five stylish - and thermally efficient – apartments, thanks to the passion of a developer who loves Actis Hybrid insulation.

The project is being masterminded by Dan Anson-Hart, who until this summer was national specification manager for the insulation specialist, and is the latest in a series of refurbishments and new builds he and his business partner are undertaking in the holiday hotspot.

In fact, the enterprise is proving so successful Dan waved a fond farewell to Actis in August after six years helping specifiers and builders with their own projects, so he can concentrate full-time on his venture.

Not surprisingly, he specifies Actis Hybrid on many of his schemes, including the former care home in Mevagissey near St Austell which is due for completion and occupation in November.

Cornwall Living Property, set up by Dan with fellow development enthusiast James Baker, refurbishes and converts old, dilapidated, derelict and poor-quality Cornish buildings into high-end, thermally efficient rental homes for working professional Cornish families. 

“I’ve been selling Actis Hybrid for many years and I believe in it so much I’m using it in my own developments,” said Dan. “In fact, the architect we work with was so impressed with it he has specified it on his own house.”

The Mevagissey roof has been insulated with 125mm honeycomb style insulation Hybris and insulating breather membrane BoostR Hybrid to give a U-value of 0.18  The age and construction of the building means rigid board needs to be used in addition to the 50mm Hybris in the exterior walls, which will offer a U-value 0.29.

BoostR Hybrid is also being used under the suspended timber floors to provide a U-value of 0.22 – all values which fall within the refurbishment building regulations.

Dan and James are also converting a grade II listed office block in Truro into two large four and five bedroom apartments, using insulating breather membrane BoostR Hybrid in the roof. The apartments will be used as shared housing for local young working professionals.

Another development they are carrying out in the county town - the conversion of a grade II listed building into eleven apartments with the addition of a new build extension to create eight further units - will also receive the Actis Hybrid treatment.

The new build section, planning permission for which is anticipated later this year, will be insulated using BoostR Hybrid and 125mm Hybris in 140mm timber frame walls, with the addition of BoostR Hybrid and possibly 185mm Hybris in the roof.

The grade II conversion element is due for completion by December.

Dan joined Actis in 2015, having spent four years as a PE teacher in Dorset, working his way up from area sales manager to national specification manager. He was much in demand running two of the Actis CPD training modules which are becomingly increasingly popular in the construction world. One, on addressing the performance gap with reflective insulation, is RIBA approved.

“I shall miss the team at Actis. I’ve had a fantastic grounding in the world of construction over the past six years and made numerous contacts throughout the industry. But while I’m no longer on the Actis payroll, the team and my customers will probably see as much of me now as they did when I worked with them,” he said.

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