SMARTPLY BRINGS FRESH FACE TO BLUESTONE RESORT

Set in 550 acres of glorious Welsh countryside near Narberth in the heart of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Bluestone National Park Resort is an all year round, five-star destination of luxury timber lodges set around a private village designed in a traditional Celtic style.  The centre has just been given an added dimension with the completion of Phase 1 of 60 new timber units. 

The £8 million project was completed on time and within budget with the help of 9mm SmartPly Frame on all the timber frame panels and 15mm SmartPly on the roofing element of the lodges.

The new phase is the latest in Bluestone's ambitious construction development plan that is determined to have environmental responsibility at its core. "This is a significant milestone for Bluestone," said Bluestone CEO William McNamara. "The addition of these 60 new lodges means we can now cater for a much larger and wider market while maintaining Bluestone's unique approach to making each and every guest feel special at what is an exclusive, luxury short-break destination.  At the core of the development are the principles of sustainability and care for, and enhancement of, the natural environment."

The project has scored high sustainability credentials by using FSC certified SmartPly Frame and SmartPly OSB3 from SmartPly - part of the panel products division of Coillte, the Irish forestry and forest products company.

SmartPly Frame provided a superior quality rigid OSB sheathing wall for the construction of the timber frame lodges. The load-bearing panels are suitable for structural use in humid environments, with a reliable distribution of strength, stiffness and spanning capacity both along and across the board.  SmartPly Frame wall sheathing also provided speedy closure of the buildings during construction, as the wall panels are prefabricated in a quality-controlled factory environment meaning reduced levels of site waste.

SmartPly OSB is manufactured by compressing precisely engineered strands of wood with exterior resins at high temperature to create an incredibly strong and versatile panel.  With no structural defects, such as knotholes and core voids, it cuts easily, will not delaminate and is very easy to work with.  Coillte Panel Products' director, sales and marketing, Andrew Macdonald said, "SmartPly was a perfect product for the new lodges.  In keeping with current construction methods of working towards healthier homes, all SmartPly OSB3 products have been manufactured using zero added formaldehyde, and with the forest resource being owned by our parent company Coillte, the long term security and reliability of our wood fibre supply gives our customers and their clients invaluable confidence in our products."

Ultimately, Bluestone will attract 100,000 visitors annually and inject around £35 million into the local economy each year.  Along with 30 cottages and 17 studios, and a range of exclusive facilities including shops, a pub, a wine bar, three restaurants and a superb holistic spa, other facilities include the Blue Lagoon - believed to be the only biomass heated Water Park in the world.

Swansea-based main contractor Dawnus completed the project, with Neath-based Seven Oaks Joinery Ltd. supplying the timber frames and wood cladding. Other timber related work was by Strasdin Joinery, Kellaway Carpentry and Craftsman Flooring. All the new lodges will be open by July 2011 with Phase 2 due to start at the end of the 2011 holiday season.

28 June 2011