Fast track roofing: 48,000m2 in less than four months

Fast track roofing: 48,000m2 in less than four months

In less than four months, SIG Design & Technology, IKO Polymeric and FK Group working collaboratively successfully completed a 48,000m2 fast track roofing project for one of the biggest online grocery centres in the world.

The new fulfilment centre for premium British online supermarket, Ocado is based in Erith Kent, and will be operational in 2017. It will handle 200,000 orders a week and represents £185 million of investment in the locality. The roofing project completed in December 2015.

IKO Polymeric, the UK’s only single ply manufacturer, developed several innovative solutions to complete the job while minimising waste of roofing products, both in manufacture and on site.

Standard length membrane is typically 20 linear metres which then has to be cut or extended (by fixing on additional sections) to fit the required dimensions. IKO Polymeric manufactured its Armourplan PVC single ply membrane in bespoke rolls of 22.35, 19.20 and 8.00 linear metres to reduce both waste and installation time for this project.

Another first was manufacturing half of the rolls with the membrane overlap positioned on the opposite side to the other half of the rolls. This 50/50 split meant the contractor could deploy two teams to work simultaneously on either side of the ridge, each rolling the membrane out in the same direction. Standard practice is for one team to work on one side at a time.

The FK Group also developed a new technique for the project, welding eight rolls together to create a large (320m2) membrane ‘blanket’. Half were then rolled back and then adhesive was applied to the area, instead of installing one roll at a time. This sequence was only possible because IKO’s Polymeric’s PU adhesive can be exposed for up to 25 minutes.

These innovative manufacturing and installation methods enabled approximately 5,500m2 to be installed each week.

The Design & Technology logistics team provided a slick and professional service working closely with our hauliers, IKO and FK.

Add to Project Board

Create a new project board: