Delivering a dream self-build home in Scottish Highlands

Roof Trusses

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Project information

Building description:
Self-build
Location:
Scottish Highlands
Client:
Scotframe

Products used

  • glulam at skinners kent academy

    Glulam Beams

  • Roof Trusses

Services used

  • Design

Project overview

The customer first approached our sister brand Scotframe at the Homebuilding & Renovating Show in Harrogate, wanting to understand more about building their perfect home in Scotland. He had been designing the house he wanted to build since the age of 11, and when the opportunity to relocate from England to Scotland arose, the customer jumped at the chance.

Set in the picturesque Scottish Highlands, this self-build project overlooks a small loch, just east of Loch Ness, offering stunning views from every angle.

Home to many famous landmarks, such as the Cairngorms, Glen Coe and Ben Nevis, the Scottish Highlands marked the perfect backdrop for our self-build customer to build his dream home.

The 1.5-storey, 5-bedroom house started life as a bespoke design, brought to us by the customer, who had worked alongside their architect to map out the ideal layout for their new home.

Pasquill supplied Roof Trusses to the build, marking a true collaboration as part of the Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions organisation.

Technical overview

A complete bespoke package for the build included a Valutherm+ kit partnered with Roof Trusses, which provide a cost-effective and flexible solution for many building types. Being manufactured off-site in our specialist factory means the time spent installing is reduced – a key component when it comes to building, especially for self-builders.

The roof for this project consisted of over 100 trusses and over 550 meters of loose rafters and joists. Scotframe’s Design Office Supervisor, Weronika Niznik, shared her 3D CAD model of the structure with our Uddingston Design Manager, Chris Smith.

As Weronika and Chris were over 300 miles apart, they relied on screen sharing to share ideas and develop the final drawings, as well as using cross-brand software, which allowed Chris to send his files to Weronika to import into her software, ensuring the roofing and housing elements combined seamlessly on-site.

The customer’s plans included an attic room, and both the height and width of this were taller and wider than usual. Because of the overall size of trusses, they had to be split for transport, and re-joined once they reached the building site. As the cap section of the truss was larger than usual, an additional tie was added to ensure the rafters stayed in the same position during transport.

The attic room included a set of roof windows, which overlapped the stair and dormer, forcing the girders, which offer structural support to the roof, much wider. To combat this, Chris specified Glulam purlins to support the infill frames and dormer trusses.

All our timber materials are PEFC or FSC® certified timber, ensuring we are supporting sustainable forestry.

Why choose Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions?

Projects such as this one highlight the benefits of working with the wider organisation, which allows for a single point of contact throughout the build programme.

In this project, Chris and Weronika were able to collaborate seamlessly to ensure the customer’s requirements were met and the build programme ran smoothly. This is all thanks to being part of the Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions organisation, which allows for an effortless collaboration between all our brands.

Not only can we offer individual products, but by being a part of the Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions organisation, you can receive a complete off-site constructed timber solution for the structure and roof of a home, without the hassle of having to deal with multiple suppliers.

When you choose to work with the Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions organisation, you also benefit from off-site manufacture, which helps our self-build customers to build their dream homes even quicker than would be possible using traditional methods of construction.


Testimonials

Chris Smith

Design Manager from Pasquill Uddingston

“I enjoyed working on this project as it was a little different to the norm. As the trusses were longer and wider than usual, it required innovating the design to ensure our customer received exactly what he was expecting. It’s always satisfying working on self-build projects and helping regular people build their forever homes that they’ve often been planning for years, and it’s always a pleasure to collaborate with my colleagues from Scotframe too.”


If you’d like to find out more about building your own home with help from Pasquill, take a look at our self-build guide or contact our friendly and knowledgeable team for advice.

If you want to explore off-site manufacturing and further benefits of working with Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions, please visit their website.


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