Renaissance Hotel 

Requirement

The client wished to refurbish the existing roof above the main reception and restaurant areas of the Renaissance Hotel at London’s Heathrow Airport. This part of the roof was a ‘well roof’ surrounded by three storeys of bedrooms. The existing roof had been overlaid a number of times with felt and asphalt and was in desperate need of repair. There were several fundamental issues concerning the choice of roofing system for the refurbishment.  The noise needed to be kept to a minimum during installation especially as the roof above the restaurant area was a large part of the refurbishment. Therefore, the choice of membrane system was critical, as the client gave a schedule of times each day when the noise had to be kept to a minimum.  There were also concerns over adhesive fumes entering the building, requiring consideration if an adhered solution was used.

Solution

The PROVAC system was ideal for this job due to its speed of application and the fact that no mechanical attachment or adhesive was needed to fix the field area of the membrane. Therefore, the roofing contractor was able to work within the parameters of the client’s requirement to minimise mechanical noise during certain periods of the day. The system works by loosely laying the Protan SE 1.6mm membrane, as mechanical attachments are only needed on the perimeter of the roof. Strategically located vents within the design act as pressure release valves utilising the existing wind forces, creating a vacuum between the waterproof membrane and the airtight load bearing deck. The stronger the wind, the better the system works.

Warranties

A 15 year warranty is standard on all Protan SE range vacuum fixed systems. This comes with an assurance that all Protan (UK) Ltd products have excellent durability and high performance under extreme weather conditions.