Cogan Primary School with Cambrian Slate and Bitumen

The Project

Sympathetic locally-sourced materials, technical expertise and market-leading guarantees led Vale of Glamorgan Council to choose BMI materials when re-roofing an early 20th century primary school.

At over 100 years old the school suffered from a patched and leaking roof. Lead Flashings had been stripped from the roof by thieves. The integration of the Flat roof and pitched roof was also a big challenge to consider.

Paul Hynam, Consultant Building Surveyor for the project set several challenges for the new roof: it should look like the existing roof, not require any maintenance, and should be sourced locally to reduce the carbon footprint and its environmental impact. It also needed to be installed quickly and completed during the school holidays, avoiding risk to the pupil

To reduce the risk of theft, the council wanted to use a lead alternative and needed a secure interface between the flat and pitched roofs. For the pitched roof the solution was BMI Redland Cambrian Slate, an interlocking slate manufactured from recycled waste slate, a dry-fix system to cut down maintenance, and fixings on the ridge and hip system to mimic the previous roof.

Some of the details on the side abutments were leaking because there was only a secret gutter rather than a cover flashing, so cover flashings made from a lead alternative were installed under the coping. For the flat roof, BMI Icopal’s Firesmart® SBS modified reinforced bitumen membranes were specified.

The result is a roof that provides security and reliability – with guarantees of up to 20 years, quality products specified and installed, a pitched and flat roof that collaborate on the details and locally sourced materials. Sounds like a winning combination!