Norbord’s timber-based panel products are featured in the new Wolseley House at BuildStore’s National Self Build & Renovation Centre in Swindon.

The brainchild of leading builders’ merchant Wolseley, the two-storey, 1,500 sq ft three-bedroom house has been designed to show off the best in timber frame design and technology to prospective self-builders.

Several timber frame component manufacturers, including Norbord, collaborated on the project. The house itself was designed and erected by timber frame specialist Frame Wise of Presteigne, Powys, and makes extensive use of the latest timber engineering technology.

Norbord’s 9mm Sterling OSB is used as sheathing and sarking board in the walls and roof structure, while its Caberdek T&G particleboard flooring features on all suspended floors.

Both Sterling OSB and Caberdek are staple ingredients in modern timber frame systems as well as ‘traditional’ brick-and-block house designs. Their high strength-to-weight ratio, ease of use and excellent environmental profile help maximise construction efficiency and contribute to a low-carbon solution.

Modern timber frame is probably the most widely-used ‘modern method of construction’, thanks to its high thermal performance, ease of erection and sustainable characteristics. All Norbord products are made from wood harvested in sustainably managed UK forests and, in the case of Caberdek particleboard, a high proportion of recycled post-consumer wood fibre.

All Norbord’s European factories use their production residues (such as bark and un-recyclable fibre) to fuel on-site biomass plants which generate the heat energy required for the manufacturing process.

Wolseley, which already stocks Norbord products in its Build Center branches around the UK, is now collaborating with Frame Wise to attract the self-build market. Many areas of the demonstration house are deliberately left exposed so that visitors can see for themselves how the various components combine to create a strong, energy-efficient structure.