No matter the pitch or degree, there are innovative roofing products on the market, from replacements tiles for a listed church to rooflights you can walk all over
Movers and Makers
- Knauf Insulation has renamed its Earthwool Universal Slab as Earthwool Building Slab. Earthwool Building Slab is a semi-rigid to rigid rock mineral wool slab suitable for use in a wide range of applications, including partitions, flooring and pitched roofs.
- Velux and Surespan have recently joined NARM, the National Association of Rooflight Manufacturers. NARM represents a complete cross-section of rooflighting and associated businesses in the UK, including manufacturers and suppliers of in-plane profiled rooflights, modular domes and architectural glazing systems. The association says its goals are to provide an authoritative united voice for the rooflight industry, to provide advice to specifiers and to develop and maintain standards and a code of practice.
- The RIBA has approved a new continuing professional development (CPD) online module from Styrofoam manufacturer Dow Building Solutions called “Specifying insulation for inverted flat roofing”. The online CPD offers information on extruded polystyrene products as an insulation choice for inverted flat roofs and gives key pointers to bear in mind when reviewing U-value calculations and specifying insulation material for such applications. View the CPD at www.ribacpd.com/dow-building-solutions/02540/overview/
- The Access Industry Forum, as part of its commitment to ensuring safe work at height, has released five videos for the Video Toolbox Talks series. The talks offer expert advice on using a wide variety of work at height equipment. The videos run for around 10 minutes and include an online test to ensure that viewers have understood their content. Toolbox Talks can be viewed for free online at www.access industryforum.org.uk/vtt.htm
Roof glazing system
Wicona’s WICTEC 50 aluminium roof glazing system has been specified as part of a new auditorium at Yarm School in County Durham. The auditorium roof includes a combination of square and shaped glass panels to create a ribbon of glazing around the auditorium perimeter.
The WICTEC 50 roof glazing option has been engineered to create large unsupported spans and complex shapes such as domes, facets and pyramids on challenging and high-specification architectural schemes. The system was developed to be simple to fabricate and install, saving time on site, and the company says it has highly efficient drainage.
Wicona
www.wicona.co.uk
Tiled roof system
Eurocell has launched Equinox, a tiled roof system suitable for new or refurbishment projects. The system features solid insulation panels integrated in the structure, which the company says offers a U-value of 0.15Wm2K, exceeding current Building Regulations requirements. A choice of standard
tile colours includes charcoal, antique red and burnt umber. The system is supplied with a full range of colour-matched fascias, soffits and guttering to complement the frame or tile colour choice. Optional fully recycled polypropylene roof slates can be specified.
Eurocell
www.rooflineonline.co.uk
Roofing systems
Alumasc’s Euroroof Mastergold Anti-root warm roof system and Sedum Extensive green roof system have been installed at St Michael’s Church
school in Peterborough. The roof was mono-pitched to most areas but also had a severe slope and pitches at three different angles from 5º to 35º.
The company says it was chosen for this project for its technical expertise due to the challenging roof design.
Alumasc Waterproofing
www.alumascwaterproofing.co.uk
Walk-On rooflight
Xtralite Rooflights has launched its Walk-On rooflight, which allows for foot traffic on areas such as terraces and roof gardens, while enabling natural daylight to reach the rooms beneath. Adjacent decking or paved areas can be aligned with the top face of the rooflight unit, creating smooth, flat leisure areas. The units are available in rectangular, square or round formats and in a range of colours and bespoke specifications to enhance design possibilities. The rooflight consists of 43.5mm double-glazed units with 21.5mm clear toughened laminated outer pane, 16mm airspace and 6mm clear toughened low E inner pane.
Xtralite Rooflights
www.xtralite.co.uk
Clay tiles
Redland has introduced a clay tile with a distinct purple hue to its Rosemary Classic range. Heather Brindle is an orange sanded tile with purple brindling, which the company says is ideal for creating striking, decorative roofs. Like the other tiles in the range, Heather Brindle can be specified for a minimum pitch of 35° and a maximum pitch of 90°. There is a full range of matching fittings.
Redland
www.redland.co.uk
Traditional clay peg tiles
Traditional clay peg tiles from Tudor Roof Tile have been specified as part of restoration works on St Andrew’s church in Blunsdon, Wiltshire. The choice of replacement roof tiles was critical to maintaining aesthetic integrity when restoring the grade II-listed church. Tudor was appointed by Richard Pedlar Architects to produce over 10,000 new handmade clay peg roof tiles plus eaves and gable tiles. The roof tiles were specially made using natural fired clay to match the originals.
Tudor Roof Tiles
www.tudorrooftiles.co.uk
Roof support systems
Big Foot Systems has expanded its heavy duty range, which is designed to support plant and installed services on flat roofs. Big Foot’s extended product portfolio now provides complete, non-penetrative, prefabricated roof support systems, which the company says negates a need for time-consuming and costly penetrations through the roof. Big Foot System’s heavy duty support range includes the Big Foot HD Cube framework, manufactured to support heavier building services on flat roofs.
Big Foot Systems
www.bigfootsupport.com
Drainage systems
The redevelopment of Crayford Town Hall in Bexley features the HDPE drainage system from Marley Plumbing and Drainage. The system has been used for bringing sewage and storm water pipework down through the building from areas including a roof terrace. HDPE can cope with temperature extremes between -40ºC and +100ºC; while the flexibility of jointing methods for the system includes electro-fusion, butt welding and push-fit. The range of sizes extends from 40mm up to 315mm, accompanied by a wide selection of fittings.
Marley Plumbing and Drainage
www.marley.co.uk
Fibre cement slate
Marley Eternit has announced that its Birkdale fibre cement slates can now achieve a minimum pitch of just 15º. The firm says the slates now provide specifiers and contractors with more flexible design options when using fibre cement, and the low pitch fibre cement slate uses hook fixings to enable a traditional slate aesthetic to be achieved at a low pitch. The company says the new slates have the ability to achieve a BRE Green Guide environmental rating of A+, and has a low carbon footprint of just 12.7CO2e /m2, as independently certified by Carbon Trust Certification.
Marley Eternit
www.marleyeternit.co.uk/slate
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