Actis Hybrid range stars in yet another George Clarke TV show
Actis has tasted its third slice of George Clarke TV stardom this summer – playing a key role in the conversion of a loft into a dramatic cinema room at an Edwardian house in Hove, Sussex.
Owner Jasmin Robertson was the driving force behind the conversion of an unloved Edwardian semi into a large family home with wow factor, with assistance from her husband Liam and a team of construction professionals.
The project, featured in the latest series of George Clarke’s Old House New Home, saw them remove one of the first floor bedrooms to make way for an ensuite and large family bathroom, knock down a conservatory and internal walls to create a large light-filled kitchen dining room, and transform the loft space into a massive home cinema, along with a bedroom and shower room.
It was for the loft conversion element that Jasmin chose three products from the Actis Hybrid range – honeycomb style insulation Hybris, insulating vapour control layer HControl Hybrid and insulating breather membrane BoostR Hybrid – in order to vastly improve the home’s previous poor E-rated thermal performance.
When Jasmin and Liam bought the house, it had been untouched since the 1980s and contained two dark reception rooms, a narrow dining room, a utility room and an unsympathetic conservatory on the ground floor.
Jasmin, a house conversion enthusiast and interior designer who had converted the loft of her previous home into a cinema room and wanted to repeat the experience in the new house, tracked the minutiae of the transformation via her Instagram account @brickdustbaby.
She said:” The Actis products were lightweight and easy to use. Due to being easy to cut to size and install, the contractors were able to get this part of the job done in really good time. We were working to a ridiculously tight timeline to fit with the filming schedule, so the elements that helped speed things up were massively appreciated! Now, having lived in the house for a couple of years, I can vouch for the fact that the Actis products do the job well. Even during the cold winter of 2020/21 we didn’t need to turn on the radiators in the loft.”
The couple paid £850,000 for the house in 2020 and spent £250,000 on the project, a £60,000 increase on their planned spend. It has recently been valued at £1.5million.
Actis products have featured in two earlier series of George Clarke’s popular home transformation programmes. A Northamptonshire village hall conversion and a former coach house in Staffordshire have both starred in Remarkable Renovations in the past two years – with equally dramatic results, both aesthetically and from a thermal efficiency point of view.
Actis UK and Ireland sales director Mark Cooper said: “It’s always heart-warming to see that not only have people passionate about improving their homes chosen Actis to help with the thermal element of their projects – but to see that our products go on to achieve TV stardom! As well as now featuring in three of George Clarke’s programmes, we have also seen TV fame with BBC 1’s DIY SOS with Nick Knowles. Watch this space to see when we’re likely to be hitting your screens again!”
The programme is available to watch here.