A great support system for UEA’s new science building: Roof-Pro supports get full marks

The University of East Anglia (UEA), Norfolk, has recently benefited from a £19 million refurbishment project which saw specialised rooftop machinery safely supported by Roof-Pro support systems.

Purpose-built as the university’s new science building, Building 60, was officially opened at the university in October 2019.

The brand new 6000m² state-of-the-art teaching facility is situated at the western end of the University of East Anglia campus, which resides within 230 hectares of land in Norwich Research Park.

Roof-Pro, an Alumasc company, provided specialised pivoting supports around three Daikin Chillers, air conditioning units, and two VES AHU units, energy saving heat recovery units, that sit on the roof of Building 60. These supports are designed to provide stability and balanced weight distribution across the roof area for the utmost safety and no roof damage.

The roof finish, wind-load, space constraints and future maintenance requirements were all taken into account when producing this bespoke Roof-Pro support system for the project.

“One of the many reasons Roof-Pro was specified on the project was the appealing 20-year warranty which is available for all Roof-Pro bespoke systems,” explained Jimi Ogunsola, Regional Technical Manager for the project. “It’s a highly trusted system that’s well known in the industry.”

“Roof-Pro supports are a safe and efficient way to quickly access and allow maintenance to important systems situated on the roof, whilst avoiding penetrating or damaging the roof’s membrane.”

The campus’ busy activity required the Roof-Pro team to be extremely efficient, with only two weeks to design, manufacture and deliver the frames in order to meet the deadline.

“The contractors were very pleased to see our products arriving already partly assembled, with all mounting plates pre-drilled, which saved them much labour time on site. Installing Roof-Pro’s support system is very easy, therefore great to work with within a tight time limit,” said Jimi.

“This logistically challenging site required our team to coordinate daily with the UEA Estates Department,” said James Mitchel, Main Contractor at RG Carter, who worked on the project, “as well as the nearby Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and other campus users to ensure construction activities did not disrupt routine.”

As part of a range that can be tailored bespoke to a client’s needs, Roof-Pro’s large unit support solutions are able to meet the requirements of many various sizes and weights of building service units, as well as specific roof designs and site parameters.

Building 60 provides the university with a comprehensive range of high‑specification lecture and seminar rooms for students across all disciplines. Its top three floors comprise teaching laboratories, with the ground floor maintaining an open interactive space for over 500 students.

Aiming to provide students, professors and associates with a multi-faceted space for many faculties, it features laboratories and social learning spaces where both traditional study and creative interaction are able to grow side by side. The idea informing the entire building design originates from the campus’ ideology of collaboration and discovery.

The buildings bespoke laboratories include large numbers of data connections, sensory lighting and localised fume extraction systems which allow students to carry out advanced experiments under controlled conditions.

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