Polarwall - insulating concrete formwork

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First Build in Germany

When specialist German basement company Freestand Kellerbau started to review ICF basement systems their first reaction was disappointment at the quality of some of the ICF systems.  The company’s Technical Director did not feel that any of the systems he saw in Germany and in the UK matched his exacting requirements for the high quality basement structures that they are associated with.  “We spent a long time looking at ICF systems but we weren’t happy with any one of them until we came across the Polarwall system. Polarwall formwork had a consistency and a lateral stability that other systems just couldn’t match. We recognised straight away that here was a system we could pour and vibrate leaving us confident that we had filled the walls without voids. Now we have built the first basement we can see that it has saved us Euros 1,600 on the overall cost of the wall construction from using a pre-cast wall, and as we get more skilled in building this formwork these cost savings will definitely escalate. We are convinced this is the way we will be building our basements in the future.”

Polarwalls first ICF build in Germany with concrete being pumped into 300mm concrete core

Polarwall director Alan Wheeler was very happy with the German build, “ it is always interesting to see a new Polarwall build in a different country but the Germans surprised us with a couple of innovations for Polarwall – they used a special XPS textured board which is made for bonding to concrete in basement construction and they poured a window in situ (with glass and all).  I am looking forward to their next build to see what they do next.”

Polarwall ICF basement construction in Stuttgart which is our first ICF in Germany. Notice the window which was cast in situ and which eliminates all thermal bridging