Nestled in between the beautiful Ditton Meadows and Cambridge city centre, Cityglades is an intimate development of just fourteen two, three, and four-bedroom homes.

Boasting innovative technology and open-plan living, property developer This Land was looking to explore modern methods of construction to help create affordable, well-constructed, sustainable homes, built in the most efficient construction timeframe.

To help achieve this, This Land sought out a fast-tracked roof system from Smartroof that would allow an additional useable room in the roof space.

The Smartroof system is designed to maximise floor space by creating rooms in a roof, whilst maintaining efficiency and sustainability standards. This particular development required a system comprising of a series of factory-produced panels, which incorporated insulated roof panels, spandrel wall panels, dormers, dummy chimneys, soffit, fascia, and 68 Keylite roof windows in total.

Jonny Cox, National Sales Manager at Smartroof, worked closely with both This Land and Keylite Roof Windows (Keylite) to ensure each aspect of the roofing system reflected the developer’s vision: “Sustainability and modern methods of construction were two huge drivers for this project. It was important for us to ensure our roofing system and everything in it reflected these factors by prioritising thermal efficiency and modular construction methods.

“The Smartroof system is built in a series of panels at our factories, delivered to site and craned into place. Once situated, the roof simply requires tiling, which means we’re able to reduce waste, provide better control of quality, and deliver rapid construction time.

“We needed to bring some natural light into the roof rooms but required roof windows that wouldn’t compromise the thermal efficiency of the build, which is one area we knew we could trust Keylite to deliver.

“We used 68 Keylite thermal glazed centre pivot windows in the 11 properties we worked on to make sure any heat lost through the windows would be minimal.

“Cost savings and operational efficiency were two big reasons for choosing Keylite as our roof window supplier, but it was its expanding thermal collar that made Keylite the perfect fit for this project.”

One of the biggest culprits for heat loss in roof windows is not double glazing like many believe, but it’s actually what happens in the gap between the frame and the roof. Keylite is the only roof window manufacturer to take full responsibility for ensuring this thermal gap is filled with its Integrated Expanding Thermal Collar – something that is unique to Keylite and comes as standard on all of its roof windows.

Jonny continues: “The expanding thermal collar completely took away any stress and extra cost around making sure our roofs would be compliant and thermally efficient. Keylite felt like a perfect fit for this project, ticking all the boxes when it came to sustainability, efficiency and aesthetics.”

Being a modern development, Cityglades offers homes with dynamic specifications. This Land’s forward-thinking ‘No Gas’ policy means air source heat pumps were employed, providing underfloor heating for each floor. The houses also make use of vapour control, triple glazing, intelligent controls, sustainable drainage and much more, with communal green spaces ensuring Cityglades is a community for future generations.