EH Smith supplies Porotherm for Oxfordshire country house restoration

Independent builders merchant EH Smith has been collaborating with one of the UK’s foremost architectural and interior designers to supply Porotherm blocks for the restoration of a Grade II-listed country house in Oxfordshire.

Ben Pentreath, whose work has included designing a large number of buildings at The Prince of Wales’ Urban Extension to Dorchester, chose Porotherm, a precision engineered modern clay block walling system, during a major reconstruction at Fawley House, a substantial former rectory near Henley, Oxfordshire.

Pentreath said he was “attracted to the material for its simple robust qualities”, adding: “As a designer of traditional buildings it is a great pleasure to work with a solid walling material that offers clear environmental benefits.”

EH Smith supplied 2000m2 of block work for the Fawley House project. It included the 425mm version of the block for the external walls of the house and the 100mm/140mm/190mm versions for the internal walls.

The company’s sales of Porotherm have grown 600 per cent in three years as the UK latches onto a system which has been widely used across Europe for many years.

Jeremy Rich, Porotherm project manager at EH Smith, said: “We are delighted that Ben thinks so highly of Porotherm and it just goes to show that it is not just a product for new builds and larger construction jobs, but something as high end as Fawley House.

“With fabric efficiency and renewable energy being such a large part of building control regulations these days more and more builders, architects and designers are seeing the major benefits of using it.”