Despite the hard times affecting us all, the roofing industry has risen above it all and come up with some outstanding demonstrations of their skills and expertise. Organised by the National Federation of Roofing Contractors, this years awards showed excellence in 12 different categories.
Examples most appropriately aligned with housing included shingles and shakes, slating, tiling, solar, green roofs and heritage roofing.
Shingles and shakes were shown at their best on the part re-roofing of a chalet bungalow at The Orchard in Devon. Kingsley Roofing working with John Brash, using Western Red cedar wood shingles, carried out the work.
Stripping and re-covering into a valley on the project was said to be difficult but more than compensated by the very neat workmanship and close attention to a variety of details.
Folkington Manor in East Sussex is Grade ll and the main part of it was re-roofed by Richard Soan Roofing Services. Planning permission was given to use Welsh slates on the visible areas of this project with Glendyne slates on the inner and hidden roof slopes.
Extensive lead work was expertly completed on the hips, ridge valleys, hoppers and chimneys, while existing slates were salvaged for future repairs.
The tiling category was won by Forster Roofing Services working with Sandtoft for their exceptional attention to the complex cricket pavilion and shelter in Perth. This is a 1925 Grade B building using handmade clay pantiles.
The main feature is the octagonal bell-shaped tower that created difficult working conditions and materials sourcing to accommodate its unusual shape. Traditional lime mortar methods were used and locally sourced larch bark timber accurately reflected the original bargeboard and fascia details.
A curved solar system the roof of a hospital in Leicester by KGM Roofing was the best in this category. However, a close second were the 7000 panels installed on 709 homes in Nottingham by J Wright Roofing.
The latter was amongst the largest projects of its kind in the UK.
Some 24 weeks of work reduced to five and a half weeks put extreme pressure on the workforce. And the project was won on the basis of the roofing company’s close attention to skills and its commitment to training.
The impressive green roof to the Peacehaven water treatment works in East Sussex, won Prater this special accolade. It is the largest curved green roof of it kind in the UK!
It became part of the solution because it overcame ten years of delays due to planning restrictions. The entire roof is covered by 16,000sq m waterproofing membrane.
Crewe Municipal Building is another Grade ll structure re-roofed by Fulwood Roofing Services (Northern) in association with Worthingtons Roofcrafts of Bolton and won first prize in the heritage category. It uses stone slates from a new UK quarry opened following the English Heritage Roofs of England campaign.
Tight specification to make the roof appear as if it was built at the turn of the century required set number of courses to each slope and methods of fixing to make it look close to the original.
Full details of all the roofing awards and the sponsors are available at the NFRC website.
More information: http://www.nfrc.co.uk/nfrc/media-centre/roofing-awards-2012.