Dugdale Plastics, Sowerby Bridge
An old mill above the river calder, this building was a classic turn of the century mill which had been neglected for 100 years. Being a productive working factory, there was a range of issues that needed to be avoided during the essential roof repair work. Importantly, the main access road could not be closed, the factory could not stop its operations and the complicated layout of the factory would require an expensive design and build scaffold. Multiple falling slates posed a danger to factory operatives and serious water ingress was causing internal structural damage, therefore extensive roof works were essential to keep the factory open and an urgent solution was required.
Vertex were brought in for 3 months to apply the arc system over the entire 1600m2 slate roof and update large areas of flat and box gutter roof with Fleeceback EPDM. At no point were factory operations affected, ensuring the bottom line was maintained and the whole project was delivered within the original construction phase plan timeline. This successful project application has resulted in our sister company Vertex Rope being recalled to site to carry out extensive additional works to all the asbestos roof sheet coverings; this is testament to the resulting satisfaction of the arc system.
Corn Exchange, Leeds
This Grade I building and its dome design was based on that of the ‘Bourse de commerce’ of Paris by François-Joseph Bélanger and François Brunet and was built in 1863. In 1998 an extensive renovation project was carried out to create an exciting, vibrant shopping and cultural hub, and the 135 year old roof was a major financial concern that was capable of jeopardising the entire restoration project by its projected re-slating cost. This complicated domed roof required a complicated and time consuming re-slate and an alternative solution was required to bring the project in line with the funding budget, while still being sympathetic to the building and working in line with Historic England conservation guidance.
Being Welsh slates mined from Lord Penrhyns quarry in Bethesda, the issue was general loose and damaged slates that had been shaken loose over time. The arc system was the perfect solution to secure the slates and the entire roof as a whole. As the system fixes each slate ‘in situ’, an expensive complicated scaffold or rigging system was not required, and all work was carried out from traditional ladders and work positioning rope systems. This resulted in an 80% reduction in costs over a re-slate, and no resulting disruption or leak risk to the important internal fabric.
We are proud that this 157 year old original roof is still fully functional and that the arc System is now an established part of the long line of maintenance history on the Leeds Corn Exchange.
St Michaels, Aberystwyth.
St Michaels is Aberystwyth's most dominant and important church, situated next to the old college building where Prince Charles studied at Wales’ National University. Standing proud on a hill above the shoreline, St Michael’s is regularly battered by ferocious coastal winds and loose, dangerous flying slates from the 130 year old roof became an unacceptable normality that needed immediate attention. A full reslate was costed at £360,000 but the funds were not available through the diocese or CADW, putting the church in risk of closure.
Through extensive application of the arc system to local churches in North Wales, the system came recommended to Catalina Architecture who arranged for a free site visit and demonstration of the system. Following the close examination and scrutiny of these respected conservation architects, it was agreed to apply the system to the entire church roof for 20% of the cost of the full re-roof. The arc system in this instance was seen as a guaranteed holding repair, allowing the Diocese 25 years to raise the funds necessary for the next phase of renovation works.
Two years after installing the system, we were called back to site as the roof had received damage from the high winds which famously ravaged the Aberystwyth beach front. On site arrival and quick repair, it was discovered that the roof damage was actually caused from slates ripped loose from the adjacent newly slated roof of the Old College building. This newly slated roof failed in the unrelenting test of the British Weather, unlike the arc system which is still durable and strong after its incorporation 30 years.
