Welcome to Rockingham Centre

Rockingham Centre has been in existence since 2000 and is home to a mixed development of residential and commercial units. Orininally the main house and coach house were refurbished as a small enterprise centre with a mix of start up units for arts & crafts and planning permision for a cafe/bistro and all units are suitable for living and working in.

Recently 7 units were built through the archway and vary in size from 1060sqft to 2100sqft.
These units were built by rockingham construction who for many years have had a deep interest in sustainable building solutions.
Rockingham Construction found that the most efficient type of construction is airtight building using structural insulated panels  (SIP Panels).  These panels have become a widely used alternative construction material for homes and other buildings.  SIPs usually refers to panels made from a thick layer of foam (polystyrene or polyurethane sandwiched between two layers of Oriented Strand Board (OSB).  The result is an engineered panel that provides structural framing, insulation and exterior sheathing in a solid, one-piece component. 

The basic design concept for SIPs is elegant in its simplicity, and offers several advantages for constructing walls and roofs.  Bonding the foam core to the stiff outer skins creates a web-and-flange structural strength (along the same principal as an I-beam across the length and breadth of the panel). With the capacity to handle axial bending, racking, and shear loads, properly designed and assembled SIPs not only replace conventional framing, but will withstand high wind, and seisimic forces. 

Insulation capacity is another advantage of SIPs.  There is general agreement that SIPs provide better overall air tightness and practical thermal performance than conventionally framed Panel systems, as they offer a dense, uniform and continuous air barrier with few thermal bridges and no opportunity for internal convection.  Airtight buildings require ventilation and found that the most efficient means of providing ventilation, which also provides fresh air and heat is to use Heat Recovery Units.  These units have an Air to Air and Air to Water heat pumps and have been monitored for efficiency over the last year. All units have a total cost of heating, hotwater and lighting of less than 100euro per month.