Sika Liquid Plastics, pioneer of cold applied liquid roofing systems, is currently in the process of completing the fourth phase of a major refurbishment of the roof at Europes largest shopping and leisure centre the Metrocentre in Gateshead.
The Metrocentre is now over 25 years old and as part of continuous plans to ensure the centre provides a clean, safe and comfortable environment for its retailers and shoppers, Capital Shopping Centres, who are the owners of the Metrocentre, have been undertaking a roof refurbishment programme. Capital Shopping Centres wanted to install a new waterproofing system that could also help the structure comply with current building regulations and bring the insulation standards up to Part L requirements.
Sika Liquid Plastics supplied a Cold Bonded Built-Up Roof System, which has been installed throughout all four phases by MITIE Tilley Roofing, a member of the Quality Assured Contractor Programme.
The roof refurbishment project had to be completed whilst the shopping centre was open, without causing any major disruption to the operations or cause inconvenience to the shoppers or retailers below. Following a comprehensive roof survey and detailed investigations of the existing waterproofing, it was determined that Sika Liquid Plastics roofing system could be applied directly to the failed felt, which has helped keep disruption to a minimum. Decotherm insulation was installed to help improve the roofs U-Value and the system was completed with a seamless Decothane membrane.
Neil Humphries, Northern Regional Sales Manager for Sika Liquid Plastics, comments; A liquid applied membrane was the obvious solution for this project because of the large amount of plant and protrusions on the roof. The new system had to cater not only for existing details but also be able to adapt to fit all future plant installations whilst maintaining its guarantee. And a benefit of this system is that no hot works needed to take place on the roof.
Decothanes liquid application means it can easily accommodate all detail areas, and once complete the full system is covered by a comprehensive, BBA backed 20 year guarantee. In addition to its many performance benefits, Decothane also has a proven track record of its guaranteed life being extended by a minimum of 10 years at the end of the initial design period. This process can be repeated time and time again and offers huge potential life cycle cost savings over the buildings lifetime.
Comprehensive technical support and customer service from both Sika Liquid Plastics and MITIE Tilley Roofing including fortnightly site meetings - meant the client has been happy to continue with the refurbishment programme, which will ultimately result in circa 100,000m2 of refurbished roof.