Sarnafil roofing earns NFRC award

Advanced Roofing's installation of Sarnafil SarnaVert living roofs on a new University of Sheffield building has been recognised at the National Federation of Roofing Contractors Awards.

Providing facilities for three of the university's Faculty of Arts and Humanities departments, Jessop West incorporates three biodiverse living roofs and innovative use of energy-efficient natural light and ventilation with striking design in the form of a multi-coloured glass and stainless steel facade.

As such, the GBP21.2million development designed by architect Sauerbruch Hutton and associate architect RMJM is an exemplar of sustainable building.

Advanced Roofing's Gordon Harris credits the company winning the coveted Green Roof accolade at the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) Excellence in Roofing Awards 2009 with his team's swift and successful installation of the SarnaVert system in spite of several practical challenges.

As he explains: "The dissimilar construction materials and irregular shape of the three green roofs, not to mention their being located on different levels, are just a few of the challenges faced by Advanced Roofing during construction".

"The roof is also punctuated with access, rooflight and plant items, so we were also subject to strict time constraints to allow other trades onto the roof to fit these services after completing our installation".

Crucially, Gordon says that by using the SarnaVert system the team was able to meet the client's internal waterproofing requirements.

"The university needed the building to be watertight at an early stage to progress the internal works," he adds.

"Sarnafil's product allowed us to deal with the tricky waterproof detailing on the roof and make the building watertight quickly and effectively".

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