EPS void formers laid to the reinforcement grid on a slab in Muscat

Expanded polystyrene · Ghala, Muscat

Cut to your drawing,
not to a catalogue.

Innovation Building moulds and cuts EPS at its own plant in Muscat — voids, rib slabs, down slabs, ICF and insulation, made to the dimensions on your drawings rather than to a fixed range of stock sizes.

Send us your drawings See what we make

Founded: 2008
Plant: Ghala, Muscat
Supply: Ex-works or site
Tested to: BS & DIN

The material

A local manufacturer, not an importer.

Raw bead is expanded, moulded into blocks and cut in-house on Austrian and German plant. Density is set by the grade the specification calls for, and the cut is set by the drawing.

Because the plant is in Ghala, ex-works collection is always on the table and top-up quantities can be collected the same week — no marine lead time, no port clearance, no container minimum. Blocks run to 2500 × 1270 mm at thicknesses from 10 to 1000 mm, and hot-wire and CNC cutting cover tapers, curves and one-off engineered contours without a bespoke mould.

What we make

Six product lines, one specification standard.

Every line is moulded to project dimensions and supplied to a stated density grade, with properties referenced to BS and DIN test methods.

EPS void formers between reinforcement ribs

EPS Voids

Void formers laid to the engineer's grid between ribs, cutting concrete volume and slab self-weight without altering structural depth.

Slabs · rafts · transfer decks · bridges

EPS rib slab with reinforcement in progress

EPS Rib Slabs

Tapered profiles used in place of hourdi or clay blocks. A fraction of the weight, cut to the rib detail so the soffit runs true.

One-way · two-way · waffle slabs

EPS fill laid to a sunken slab before screed

EPS for Down Slabs

Lightweight fill to sunken slabs and level changes, replacing the sand and lean-mix the structure would carry permanently.

Sunken slabs · pools · planters · falls

Completed ICF structure at Mabella, Muscat

ICF Blocks

Insulated concrete formwork. Forms are dry-stacked, reinforced and filled — and never struck, staying as insulation to both faces.

Villas · apartments · warehouses

Insulated building envelope under construction

Roof & Wall Insulation

Boards and sheets specified to the R-value and the compressive load of the build-up above, whether a terrace or a plant deck.

10–1000 mm · fire-retardant grade available

Engineered Shapes

CNC and hot-wire cutting to a drawn profile — tapers, curves and one-off contours, at a fraction of the cost of a bespoke mould.

Supplied to NR-32 Duqm bridge works

On site

What it looks like on a working deck.

Placed by hand, with no lifting plant. Services chased into the foam and finished over mesh. The photographs below are Omani projects.

Workers dry-stacking ICF forms to the set-out — Dry-stacking to the set-out

ICF wall reinforced and poured in lifts — Poured in lifts

Electrical services chased into an ICF wall and rendered over mesh — Services chased and rendered

Residential ICF walls at Qurum, Muscat — Residential, Qurum

Completed insulated warehouse interior at Rusayl — Insulated warehouse, Rusayl

Completed ICF villa structure at Mabella — Villa structure, Mabella

EPS voids laid out across a slab — Voids laid to the grid

Energy performance

In this climate, the wall is a cooling bill.

The summer peak reaches 48 °C and most of a building's lifetime energy goes on cooling. An insulated envelope reduces the heat crossing the wall — and that reduction repeats every year the building is in service.

Muscat field study · electricity consumed, kWh per m²

35.0

27.5

July

30.0

18.4

August

29.3

17.5

September

Conventional block villa ICF villa

17%less transmission heat gain through the wall
36%lower annual energy demand for cooling
20–40%less electricity consumed, month on month
0.40wall U-value in W/m²K, against 1.81 for the block villa — the GCC regulation limit is 0.74

An ICF villa monitored against a conventional block villa through July, August and September in Muscat. Consumption from Muscat Electricity Distribution Company billing, normalised per square metre. On a separate commercial project in Dubai, air conditioning designed at 250 tons was installed at 50.

Technical data

Characteristic properties of IB-EPS.

Grade is selected against design loading and service temperature. Send the drawings and IB will confirm the grade against them.

Average values, for reference. EPS holds its R-value over time: the cells contain air from the outset, so there is no blowing agent to diffuse out and no thermal drift to design around.
Property	Unit	Test method	LD	HD	EHD	UHD	SHD
Foamed density	kg/m³	DIN 53420	12–15	18–20	23–25	28–30	32–35
Thermal conductivity at 10 °C (max)	W/mK	BS 3837 App. D	0.038	0.035	0.033	0.032	0.030
Compressive stress at 10% strain (min)	kPa	BS 4370 Pt 1 M3	70	110	150	190	235
Cross-breaking strength (min)	kPa	BS 4370 Pt 1 M4	140	170	205	275	350
Dimensional stability at 80 °C (max change)	%	BS 383 App. E	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Water vapour permeability at 38 °C (max)	ng/Pa·s·m	BS 383 App. F	6.9	5.0	4.2	4.2	3.9
Burning characteristic, extent burnt	mm	BS 4735	Type N > 125 · Type A < 124 · fire-retardant grade available
Sheet size	mm	—	To project specification, up to 2500 × 1270
Thickness	mm	—	10 to 1000

Reference projects

Already specified, already approved.

IB material has been written into specifications and accepted on site by international consultancies and tier-one contractors working in Oman. For a design team, that removes the risk of being first.

Waterfront Project, Shatti Al QurumService & Trade LLCSaba Clancy

Mall of OmanShapoorji Pallonji – CCC JVAECOM

St. Regis Hotel, Al MoujInternational Construction Development Co.Ibrahim Jaidah

Rayhaan Rotana Hotel, Al MoujUnited Golden Construction Co.WS Atkins Global

JW Marriott, Madinat Al IrfanDouglas OHIHoehler + Al Salmy

Mövenpick Hotel & Apartments, GhalaAl TasnimSSH

Nikki Beach Resort, Yiti MarinaDawood Contracting Co.SSH

IKEA ShowroomAl Hajiry Trading & ContractingEIDC

National Road NR-32 Phase 1, DuqmGalfar Engineering & ContractingNational Engineering Office

Liaqat Airport ResidencesUnique ContractingLines & Vision

40 Classrooms, Taqa & Mazyoona, DhofarBurj Oman LLCMinistry of Education

Dar Al Hassan Villa, QurumAl Arkan ConstructionNadan Engineering

AECOM
WS Atkins Global
SSH
Hoehler + Al Salmy
Ibrahim Jaidah
Saba Clancy
EIDC
National Engineering Office
Nadan
Lines & Vision
Shapoorji Pallonji – CCC JV
Galfar
Douglas OHI
Al Tasnim

Working with us

What you get that an importer cannot offer.

Made and collected in Muscat

Ex-works collection from Ghala is always available, and a shortfall found mid-pour can be collected the same week.