Valencia Heights demonstrates the disaster resilience, energy-efficiency, safety, and comfort of BuildBlock ICFs. This development personifies the best qualities of ICFs from concept through completion.
Valencia Heights, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
About Valencia Heights
Valencia Heights was designed to be beautiful as well as functional. The building is comprised of a total of 33 apartments and is close to downtown George Town. Each plan features a spacious and contemporary design. Open and inviting rooms finished with the best quality craftsmanship. The first floor is at least 12ft above sea level. BuildBlock ICFs were used for all exterior walls and placed on an engineered pier and beam foundation system. The second floor has an Epicore flooring system. This is an engineered steel and concrete system that adds greatly to the strength of the structure. The exterior walls are finished using a synthetic wall finish sealed with mold inhibitor paint for long durability.
With its beautiful European styling and elegant wrap-around balconies, Valencia Heights represents ICF construction at its best. This well-installed ICF project exposed developers and builders in the Caymans to the value and benefits of ICF construction.
The information below is provided by the ICF professional who installed this job.
The project was very challenging in many respects. It had to be completed in on a tight schedule using a crew of only five ICF professionals and two workers who were not previously trained in ICF. The nature of ICF installation made it relatively easy to quickly train the untrained workers on the job. Another big challenge was getting the ICFs to the Cayman Islands. The manufacturer helped us time the overseas shipments in an optimal manner.
ICF construction has been tried on a grand scale in the Cayman Islands before but failed due to installation errors. Nonetheless, forward-thinkers wanted to try it again to reap all the benefits ICF has to offer. 95% of all construction on the island is completed with CMU and concrete. ICF now has proven its build-ability and has been time efficient. This project has opened up decision makers’ eyes to ICF on the island. It has become a major contender in not only residential projects but commercial ones as well.
Energy efficiency is a major marketing point for the condos since energy [costs] related to air-conditioning has been reduced from $400 to $80 per unit. [Based on estimates comparing the energy use of a similar CMU structure on the island.] The Cayman Islands have a mean temperature of 80F – 90F almost year round. It is humid at times and the heat index reaches up to 115F. Electricity is diesel generated and very expensive. ICFs are a perfect fit when trying to build with energy efficiency in mind.
