DESIGNING an ICF HOME
Anamika Talwaria investigates how you can create a bespoke property using insulated concrete formwork
This contemporary home uses Durisol blocks and is finished in stone and timber cladding to blend in with its rural setting. The design is simple, but large spans of glazing have been added, made possible through ICF’s inherently strong steel-concrete core
CF is an intuitive modern build method involving hollow blocks, typically made of expanded polystyrene (EPS), which slot together to form the structural skeleton of your home. These are then braced and filled with readymix concrete to create an ultra-strong, high performance structure. The lightweight units can be manipulated into whatever shape your design calls for with ease, making it an ideal system to create architecturally interesting homes.
“ICF is historically popular when aiming for slightly wacky building shapes,” says Miguel Jaen, technical sales manager at Jackon UK. “Round walls and oblique corners are easily achievable, as the EPS formwork can be cut and shaped to create different radii and angles.” Some ICF systems, like Nudura, also offer blocks in pre-cut forms, perfect for creating angled and curved walls. This makes it even easier for a self builder to create a unique dwelling. Effectively, the main limit to ICF is your imagination (or that of your architect or designer).