Green Roof Award Winner!

First Light Pavilion at Jodrell Bank Observatory is the winner of the green roof category in the reputable National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) Roofing Awards 2023. This annual award ceremony celebrates high standards of workmanship and safety within the roofing industry.
 

The First Light Pavilion, designed by Hassell architects, flaunts a unique dome shaped roof, waterproofed with Bauder Total Green Roof System and finished with a biodiverse green roof that comprised local soil and plants, supplemented with Bauder native species wildflower seed.

The entire focus for the construction was on sustainability with minimal environmental impact and the British native species wildflower plants will encourage wildlife to the roof.  The intention of Jodrell Bank is to maintain the plants through mowing just once a year so that the roof naturalises and supports the ecology of the site.

The award criteria the expert judging panel consider included degree of difficulty and problem solving and this project exhibited these challenges with it’s incredibly complex structure and detailing.

A large amount of planning was required to ensure integrity of the waterproofing system being installed. The shape and pitch of the roof posed a challenge; therefore a pre-start meeting was carried out before any materials arrived on site. This gave Bauder Site Technician, Anthony Symondson, the opportunity to explain all components within the RBM waterproofing system installed. Opening the conversation between main contractor, Kier, approved installers LRL Roofing and Bauder on how to achieve the successful roof installation.

A phased plan consisting of splitting the circular roof into 16 segments to ensure sufficient laps on the waterproofing was produced by the Contracts Manager at LRL Roofing. The waterproofing and substrate was secured by installing large timbers to the perimeter kerbs. This allowed the water to discharge to the rainwater goods.

Due to the project’s complexity, a total of 19 interim inspections were carried out by Anthony throughout the installation. Visiting the site once, or twice, a week to be on-hand to solve any on-site challenges and ensuring the quality of the installation of each component within the waterproofing system.

This project forms part of The University of Manchester and has an overall total value of £21.5m. Partially funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to conserve the Cheshire landmark to inspire future generations.

Huge congratulations to LRL Roofing on their NFRC award win!

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