Oil refinery explosion fails to destroy ‘indestructible’ Hambleside rooflights

The original installation of Hambleside Danelaw GRP insulated rooflights on a warehouse badly damaged in the 2005 Buncefield oil refinery disaster not only survived the explosion intact but has been retained on the refurbished building.

The explosion impact on the then newly-built 37,000m^² distribution centre was severe, damaging the roof and walls and destroying the steel columns and the rafters acting as the supporting structure. The extensive refurbishment required partial demolition and a major re-cladding by CA Group, but CA found that most of the Hambleside rooflights were in a more than satisfactory condition for using again within the CA Twin-Therm® system.

The Buncefield distribution centre incorporates Hambleside’s Contour GRP rooflights whose translucent GRP sheeting is designed to admit controlled natural daylight into industrial, recreational, agricultural, commercial and other buildings.

Available in numerous profile formats, Contour is easy to fix and suitable for use in most climatic conditions with a guaranteed service life of 25 years. The sheets are easily handled and transportable.

Contour GRP top sheets and liner panels are fully tested to comply with HSE fragility guidelines when installed in a tested roof system. For fire performance, the sheets are available in grades SAB 3, SAA 1 and SAA 0 with the latter two testing as Class 1 to BS 476.

CA Group had been working on the Buncefield warehouse construction project before the disaster and was commissioned again for the rebuild after the site changed ownership in 2009.

Martin Lowther, CA Group’s operations director said: “CA Group regularly selects Hambleside Danelaw rooflights for both major new build and refurbishment projects and the Buncefield project illustrates perfectly why the Hambleside combination of enhanced light transmission, energy savings, fire protection and non-fragility makes our choice excellent value for money.”