Lakesmere new stepped roof for Pendle Vale Campus

A Lakesmere product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Jun 9, 2009

Building envelope specialists Lakesmere has provided a striking stepped roof design for a new school in Nelson, Lancashire.

Created as part of the Government's ambitious Building Schools for the Future programme, Pendle Vale Campus has been designed by architects Capita Architecture to complement the steep contours of the hillside site.

The overall staggered roof design, which features over 7,000 sqm of standard and tapered Kalzip aluminium sheets, has been built over four levels and comprises 19 mono pitched roofs linked by a central spine that houses the building's main internal walkway.

Creating a dramatic wave effect, the roof structure has been designed to steadily rise from the lowest point of the hillside up to the school's main entrance at the top.

Lakesmere's technical and design expertise played a vital role in the creation of the college's dramatic roof and to meet the education sector's stringent environmental targets, Lakesmere worked closely with supply chain partner Kalzip to ensure the roof structure successfully achieved the desired U-value of 0.15 W/mK.

Owing to the unusual design of the roof structure safety throughout the installation process was paramount.

To satisfy the requirements of main contractor Bovis Lend Lease, the Lakesmere team completed various training including Work at Height, Injury and Incident Free (IIF) as well as specialist training in the use of rope access installation techniques.

Client Catalyst Lend Lease, who will own and manage Pendle Vale Campus under a 25-year PFI agreement, also required Lakesmere to provide a safe solution for future maintenance work.

The team therefore appointed supply chain partner MR Site Services to install its Quantum Walkway system, which incorporated handrails, steps and anti-slip treads for added safety, along the gutter lines of each of the individual roofs.

Regarded as one of Lancashire's first 'super schools', the Pendle Vale Campus comprises two schools and a college and has been designed to meet the needs of pupils aged between 11 and 18 as well as students with physical and learning difficulties.