Blog by David Luukas…
Derbigum Olivine, an ecological roofing solution from Alumasc, has been used in the refurbishment of a Middlesex School. Opened in 1951, Mount Stewart Junior School in Harrow, is a community school for boys and girls aged 7-11.
Due to on-going issues with leaks and water ingress, Mount Stewart Junior School took the decision to re-roof the entire campus, comprising 7 roofs of various construction, totalling 2500m2.
Alumasc and their registered contractor M&J Roofing were challenged with re-roofing the large roof areas in only eight weeks, to ensure minimum disruption to the school, its teachers and pupils. Budget constraints dictated that the solution needed to ensure not only waterproofing integrity, but also longevity, and minimal long-term maintenance costs.
Derbigum Olivine was the perfect solution which also offered additional ecological benefits, brought about by a naturally-sourced Olivine mineral layer. During rainfall, the Olivine membrane makes contact with CO2 present in the atmosphere. This results in a chemical reaction, neutralising the CO2 and providing a positive impact on climate change.
There were a number of detailing issues that had to be resolved, particularly regarding the sloping roofs which varied greatly from area to area. On some roofs there were areas of ponding water, and with the school’s budget not allowing for a tapered insulation scheme, Alumasc instead designed tapered gutters at the roof perimeters, to integrate with the new flat board insulation overlay and assist the drainage to the Alumasc gutters and downpipes.
Speaking about the installation, Richard James from M&J Roofing, added: “The large barrel sectioned roofing area was very complex in its installation, especially when it came to fitting the insulation. Using Derbigum Olivine allowed us to achieve a good fit to this challenging area, and resulted in a highly respectable finish. We installed the first ever Derbigum Olivine system back in 2013 and, since then, the system has quite rightly grown in popularity. It not only offers unique CO2 neutralising properties, but also has the longest product guarantee in the marketplace.”
Derbigum Olivine offers a market leading warranty of 40 years and is subject to minimal long-term maintenance requirements.
