Kooltherm K17 Insulated Plasterboard from Kingspan Insulation was used extensively in a new aged care project in Moolap, Victoria to achieve significant time and labour savings in construction.

Located in Moolap, east of Geelong, this stunning new aged care facility was designed by renowned urban architects Jackson Teese. The Moolap Aged Care Facility boasts a 108-bed capacity with features including an onsite hairdressing area, laundry areas, dining hall, kitchens, bathrooms, staff facilities, and more.

Kingspan’s onsite team offered Kooltherm K17 Insulated Plasterboard as an alternative to the traditional clip and channel, or stud and track methods, with both the contractor and architect agreeing that the ease and speed of the product's installation would provide huge labour savings to the project. About 550 square metres of Kingspan’s K17 Insulated Plasterboard were installed in the project, with the installation completed at three and a half times the speed of the originally specified method. Additionally, the lightweight nature of the boards allowed simple installation.

Kingspan K17 Insulated Plasterboard is fixed directly to a masonry wall using an adhesive bonding method combined with mechanical fixing.

Contractor Caldow Plastering said the use of Kingspan’s product instead of the traditional methods, meant the project tracked well ahead of schedule. He noted that they were able to achieve significant savings purely by reducing the time the trades were onsite.

Being an aged care facility, there were a lot of services on the external walls that had to be accommodated. According to the contractor, chasing the Kooltherm K17 Insulated Plasterboard to house these services was a remarkably easy process.

Kingspan K17 Insulated Plasterboard provides continuous insulation to the building, reducing the facility’s dependence on cooling and heating systems, which leads to savings on energy costs. Residents of the aged care facility will be able to enjoy stable temperatures through extreme weather changes, allowing them to live comfortably regardless of the time of the year.