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One of the first projects in the UK and Ireland to feature an innovative mortarless brick cladding system has been completed in record time. Known as Novabrik, the system has been used in a three-storey apartment block on Belfast's Ballyclare Road.

Manufactured by County Tyrone-based Acheson & Glover, it has been developed by a leading Canadian manufacturer in collaboration with the country's National Research Council.

The building incorporating Novabrik is one of two timber frame apartment blocks completed to date at the North Court development. The first block of 12 apartments was built using a timber frame with traditional brick walls. The structure was erected by four brick layers and two labourers in around 12 weeks. By contrast, the block built from Novabrik - which is approximately the same size - took two joiners and an apprentice just seven weeks to complete.

The development went on the market in December 2005 and all apartments have since been sold. Project developer - Sean McCavana of McCavana Developments - is so pleased with the product's cost and time-saving benefits that he has since placed repeat orders for other projects.

These include a development of 25 houses in Randalstown, Co Antrim and two further apartment blocks. As well as his property development interests, Sean also runs McCavana Timber Frame Homes - one of the leading companies in Northern Ireland developing kits in-house for installation on site.

"While a timber frame can be erected in as little as a day or two, the speed - and cost - of constructing the brick walls can depend as much as anything on the weather conditions on site," says Sean. "With Novabrik however, weather is not a factor. As it is mortarless, fitting is guaranteed five days a week regardless of the elements and there is very little wastage. In addition, there is no limit to how many courses you can put up in a single day. There are other advantages too, including the fact that no air vents, steel lintels or expansion joints are required. "Taking everything into account, we found that in a single day, using Novabrik, you can complete three times the surface area that can be achieved with brick. That of course also translates into cost savings. We estimate that using Novabrik reduced the cost of labour and materials by as much as 20 per cent."

"There is no question it helped to accelerate handover of the new North Court apartments by as much as four to six weeks. That is great for cash flow because customers get the keys to their new homes sooner and the sale proceeds go into the bank faster. "It's a great product. Our joiners took to it like ducks to water and we've received a lot of favourable comments about how well it looks," says Sean.