Soprema UK

A private client secured planning permission for a 1.5 storey bungalow on their family’s land, in the village where their ancestors had lived for generations. Mac Eye Projects designed and constructed the two-bedroom, two-bathroom timber-frame property according to ambitious sustainability and energy efficiency goals, using SOPREMA’s ISOLAIR to ensure the necessary thermal and acoustic performance levels. This woodfibre board from the PAVATEX range was delivered in June 2020 and the external rendering of the Paddock’s walls was completed in October 2020.

QUALITY AND AESTHETICS KEY FOR THE ROOF OF NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN DORSET

Nestled between parklands, at a mere stone’s throw from Lea Valley and Hackney Marshes, and in the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with its world-class sporting facilities, an incredible new neighbourhood is arising. Chobham Manor is the first of five new developments to be built in this history-rich area in Stratford, east London. 6,800 new homes will be constructed in total over the next 20 years, along with health centres and multi-purpose community spaces. SOPREMA provided the waterproofing solution and insulation materials for Chobham Manor, as well as collaborating closely from the design stage onwards with Taylor Wimpey, one of the top-five housebuilders in the UK, and SOPREMA-approved contractor Skyler Contracting.

In 2014 a new development consisting of 7 luxury beachfront apartments with uninterrupted sea views was built. The Beach Retreat is positioned on the marina esplanade along the beautiful east Kent coastline. The roof design is of particular interest as Ramsgate seafront and Marina Esplanade is a designated Conservation Area and area of special architectural and historic interest.

A brand new hospital in Middlesex will deliver efficient and much improved care to it’s patients. The hospital includes new wards, an extension on one of its existing wings as well as the relocation of its existing energy centre. With so much investment in the new hospital including state-of-the-art equipment, the roof design needed to be robust, provide security and require minimal maintenance throughout its lifetime.

The Strathmore Centre is an important educational facility in Teddington, West London. Soprema supplied the roofing products for this new building, working closely with single-ply specialist Rock Roofing, main contractor LIFE Build Solutions and green roof partner SkyGarden to achieve a stunning result. Steve Hatcher, Contracts Manager at Rock Roofing, greatly appreciates the reassurance that, “once you’ve installed a Soprema product, you know you have delivered top quality.”SOPREMA FLAGON PVCThe roof build-up for the Strathmore Centre project consisted of a FLAGON PVC single ply membrane with a Wildflower Blanket System from SkyGarden on top. Steve points out that, especially in this kind of scenario, the reliability of the waterproofing is key: “Soprema’s single-ply is not only easy and quick to install, it is also highly reputable. When installing a product beneath a green roof, you need to have the confidence that that product will work. That’s the reason we choose to partner with Soprema.”CLOSE COLLABORATION ON THE DESIGNRock Roofing, LIFE Build, SkyGarden and Soprema collaborated closely on some last minute changes to the specification and the design.INSTALLATION TYPEOriginally, the team at Rock Roofing had proposed a mechanically fixed roof system. Yet on-site checks revealed that a loose-laid system would be a better match for the concrete beam construction of roof. Moreover, the latter installation method would be quicker.Steve and his team checked with Soprema to ensure that the proposed change would be covered by the guarantee, and with SkyGarden to ensure that the green roof met the minimum weight requirements. “Once we got confirmation from all the parties involved, we moved forward with the new installation type”, Steve explains. “We always get good technical back-up from Soprema, making for a very easy process, even when lastminute adaptations are required.”PARAPET CAPPINGMoreover, Rock Roofing came up with a value-engineered alternative for the capping on the parapets that were supposed to be done by a third party. Steve: “We gave the main contractor an alternative parapet detail, which would speed up installation and result in significant cost savings. We proposed a smaller capping and consulted with the team at Soprema to make sure the new perimeter detail was in agreement with them, which it was.” Thus, Rock Roofing saved LIFE Build considerable time and money.A BEAUTIFUL GREEN ROOFSteve looks back with satisfaction. “We had no complications or issues and even won back some of the lost time”, he recaps. LIFE Build is very pleased with the result as well. Steve: “We got some great feedback from them. Even though they think the green roof looks amazing, they pointed out that, in a way it’s a shame it covers such a nice roof. That’s a beautiful compliment.”QUESTIONS? GET IN TOUCH.Would you like to work with Soprema for your next project? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our experts.

LONDON HOSPITAL ROOF REFURBISHMENT USE SOPRALENE WATERPROOFING SYSTEM

SAFE TO TORCH FLAT ROOF REFURBISHMENT PROJECT

Harris Academy Secondary School is a 6 form-entry secondary school in London. The project brief was developed with London Borough of Sutton and Harris Federation, together with multiple stakeholders and the surrounding community. Architype, a top London based architect, were asked to design a new school which could meet Passivhaus standard and also go on to meet BREEAM requirements. The requirement of this high quality development was the integration of environmental sustainability, user comfort and well-being. To meet these requirements they needed a high quality roof specification which could offer thermal insulation and a high performance waterproofing solution.

At Soprema, we like to think big. We continually invest in innovative, future-proof products and solutions and we frequently contribute to projects that form entire communities and offer residents everything they need. Think of London City Island , which includes residential properties as well as cafes, shops, restaurants and cultural facilities, or Chobham Manor , which was waterproofed with 14,000 m2 of ALSAN PMMA. The Ropetackle Development in Shoreham-by-the-Sea, which was shortlisted for an Inside Housing Development Award, deserves special mention, too. The new development on a former industrial site bordered by the River Adur, the South Coast Main Railway Line and the A283 Old Shoreham Road was completed in March 2021, providing much-needed new housing in the area.

Counting about 3,000 residential properties, Glenvale Park is a brand-new neighbourhood in the north of Wellingborough. To cater to the local community’s educational needs, the project also includes a new nursery school and primary school. Together with single-ply specialist Rock Roofing and main contractor Lindum Group, Soprema took care of the pitched and flat roofs of the educational facilities, waterproofing 3,000 square metres with the aesthetically stunning FLAGON membranes.ONE SITE, TWO PROJECTSSoprema secured the Glenvale Park project in October 2022, providing its developers with a significant commercial advantage over competitor solutions. The actual construction of the Glenvale Park nursery school started in January 2023 and was soon followed by works on the primary school. So, the project consisted of two separate buildings located on the same site, with the same client and main contractor overseeing both endeavours simultaneously.Soprema not only supplied the necessary waterproofing and insulation solutions: our team of experts was also responsible for interim site inspections, thermal calculations, and other services – always in close collaboration with Rock Roofing.Leon Horobin, Technical Sales Manager at Soprema, greatly values the longstanding relationship with Rock Roofing: “We have worked with the company founders, with Contracts Manager Steve Hatcher and with other members of the team for almost a decade. The level of collaboration has always been outstanding.”OVERCOMING NUMEROUS CHALLENGESSteve Hatcher stresses that the quality of roofing works for Glenvale Park nursery and primary schools benefited massively from the strong partnership between Rock Roofing and Soprema. Steve: “We relied on Soprema’s valuable on-site assistance and leveraged the expertise of their technical professionals to resolve the issues we encountered – and there were quite a lot of them, making the project all the more engaging and interesting for the team.”1.   DESIGN CHALLENGESThe first challenges arose from the fact that we were not working on a flat but on a pitched roof, requiring careful thought and planning. The detailing becomes more complex as the angles of the profiles change, and working on a slope is also challenging in general as it makes installing the sheets and products trickier.2.   CHALLENGING WEATHER CONDITIONSThe winter season, too, posed a challenge at the start of the project. The light snowfall and rain made the roof wet and slippery. Moreover, the low temperatures prevented the use of adhesives and a lot of the work had to be put on hold. This initially resulted in delays and increased deadline pressure. However, we were able to overcome these setbacks and make up for lost time when it became warmer.BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH SOPREMA1.   INCREDIBLY WIDE RANGEBoth fully adhered and mechanically fixed systems were used for the Glenvale Park schools, testifying to Soprema’s extensive product range and showcasing our ability to tailor solutions to the most diverse roof situations. We can select multiple products from our range to meet client needs and cover cost considerations. Moreover, the roofs being highly visible and their aesthetics a major selling point, we ensured that our solution added to their visual appeal.1.1 Cost-effective alternative to metal roofingFor the visible roofing areas, we used single-ply membranes while adding profiles to make them look like standing seam roofs. The result looks as stunning as a metal roof yet is much more durable with a product life of more than 35 years. In addition, our synthetic roofing membranes are recyclable, easier to install, more cost-effective and much lighter than aluminium, lead or copper roofing. The lower permanent load results in additional cost savings because the roof structure can be lighter as well.1.2 Fully adhered systemOn the pitched areas, which are very visible, we used fully adhered membranes to obtain a beautiful flat appearance. More specifically, the build-up is FLAGON SB, our fleece-backed membrane composed of flexible PVC, on top of SOPRATHERM G, a glass tissue-faced PIR insulation. The self-adhesive SOPRAVAP STICK ALU 16 membrane served as a vapour control layer, and the metal deck was primed with ELASTACOL 600 primer.1.3 Mechanically fixed systemsFor areas that were not visible, we opted for two mechanically fixed systems. As achieving the same flawless surface as the fully adhered system was not necessary, quick installation and cost-effectiveness (especially since no adhesives are required) were the deciding factors.The first mechanically fixed area consists of FLAGON SR DE, SOPRATHERM F insulation and a VAPOR FLAG vapour control layer. The second area has the same build-up, but with tapered insulation to create falls in the roof to the outlets.1.4 Solar PV and roof lightsThe roofs of Glenvale Park nursery school and primary school have been fitted with solar PV panels. Rock Roofing took care of their integration into the roofing system and installed remote and temperature controlled roof lights on the nursery school. Steve Hatcher: “It really is an all-encompassing package you get. Only a big supplier like Soprema has the different products you need for optimally waterproofing and insulating multiple roof areas.”2.   ONE-STOP SHOP AND WARRANTYAn additional advantage of having one supplier for the entire build-up is the reassurance that all products, which are designed as a system, are fully compatible. Moreover, you get a single-point warranty. For the Glenvale Park schools, we even extended our standard 20-year Sopracover warranty to 25 years. Finally, all the fire requirements of BROOF(t4) are of course covered.EXCITING PROJECTS AHEADBoth the nursery and the primary school have been completed. The buildings look stunning and perform excellently. The complexity of this project is what makes it stand out, showcasing the advantages of employing a complete system tailored to unique installations. And more exciting collaborations between Rock Roofing and Soprema are in the pipeline.Interested in our one-stop shop approach for your own project? Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.