Commercial & retrofit projects
Commercial retrofit that doesn't shut down the building — or blow the carbon budget.
Sprayed cork insulation for offices, schools, healthcare, multi-residential and industrial portfolios. Carbon-negative material, externally applied while the building stays operational, BREEAM and net-zero reporting documentation included.
Why commercial clients choose cork
Lower cost, shorter programme, zero tenant decant.
Traditional commercial EWI is slow, scaffold-heavy, and disruptive: cladding off, insulation board, mesh, two render coats, paint. Programmes stretch to 6–12 months on a single block. Tenants complain, retail revenue drops, and the embodied carbon of the new material set undermines the whole ESG case for the retrofit.
Sprayed cork compresses that programme. No board cutting, no mesh, no scrim — the coating is applied directly to the prepared substrate at 3–6 mm. Capital cost typically runs 30–40% of a comparable mineral-wool EWI scheme. Programme is 50–70% shorter. Building stays operational throughout.
Sectors we work in
Offices, schools, healthcare, multi-residential, industrial.
Commercial offices & retail: tired masonry façades, failed render, EPC-driven minimum energy efficiency upgrades. Application out-of-hours where required.
Education & healthcare: single-skin Victorian and post-war school blocks, hospital wings, GP surgeries. Low-VOC, non-toxic, no biocide off-gassing — safe for occupied estates.
Multi-residential & social housing: mid-rise blocks, conversion schemes, retrofit-for-rent portfolios. Awaab's-Law-compliant mould prevention built into the same coating.
Industrial & logistics: warehouse and distribution units, cold-storage envelopes, agricultural buildings. Robust, impact-resistant, easily maintained.
Commercial delivery
Designed for portfolio-scale retrofit.
Operational install
Externally applied. Offices, schools and shops keep trading throughout.
50–70% shorter programme
No board, mesh or scrim. Single trade, two-coat application.
30–40% of EWI capex
Comparable thermal uplift at a fraction of the capital and embodied carbon cost.
Carbon-negative material
Embodied-carbon figures and EPD data for BREEAM, SKA and ESG reporting.
Fire-rated B-s1, d0
Suitable for over-11m within an appropriate fire strategy. EN 13501 certified.
Full CDM & RAMS
ISO 9001 / 45001 framework. Principal Contractor capability where required.
Commercial & retrofit FAQs
What facilities teams and developers ask.
- What size of commercial projects do you take on?
- We deliver schemes from single-unit retail and office refurbishments through to multi-block residential portfolios, schools, healthcare and industrial estates. Typical commercial jobs range from 500 m² to 15,000 m² of treatable façade per phase.
- Can sprayed cork be applied while the building stays operational?
- Yes — that's one of the strongest commercial cases for it. Application is external, low-noise and dust-free compared to render hacking-off and re-coating. Offices, schools and shops typically stay operational throughout. No tenants need to be decanted as they do for IWI.
- How does it support net-zero and ESG reporting?
- Cork is a carbon-negative material — the cork oak forests behind the supply chain sequester an estimated 10 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. We can supply embodied-carbon figures, EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) extracts and material provenance documentation to plug straight into BREEAM, SKA, GRESB and corporate sustainability reports.
- Is it suitable for buildings over 11 metres?
- Yes, where compliant with the project's overall fire strategy. The coating is rated B-s1, d0 to EN 13501 — suitable for residential and commercial buildings including over-11m within an appropriate system specification. We work with fire engineers on a case-by-case basis.
- How does it compare to a full EWI retrofit on a commercial block?
- Capital cost typically runs at 30–40% of a comparable mineral-wool EWI scheme, programme is 50–70% shorter, scaffold time is reduced, and the disruption to occupants is minimal. Whole-life cost over 25 years is significantly lower because there's no repaint cycle.
- Do you handle programme planning, RAMS and CDM for commercial projects?
- Yes. Full pre-construction documentation: RAMS, COSHH, programme, traffic management, fire-safety method statements, CDM Principal Contractor obligations where appointed. We work to BS, ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 frameworks.