We had a barrel of fun

Every job is unique but some are more unique than others! That was certainly the case when Cathedral Builders asked us to waterproof a barrel roof at the Heartlands site between Redruth and Camborne.

For a start the whole Heartlands project is somewhat unusual. Part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage site, the main Heartlands site is one of only a handful to receive a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Living Landmarks programme. This has enabled work to take place to open a free visitor attraction and world heritage site gateway with exhibitions, sculptures, gardens and other attractions.

A private housing project was run in tandem with the development of the former mining area. Being the largest private sector custom-build development in the UK, this project looked to deliver fifty-four houses, each one custom designed by one of six teams. The build which we were asked to contribute to came via Cathedral Builders in tandem with AOC Architecture.

Such was the interest in the barrel roof that at one point carpentry students from Truro and Penwith College visited the site in order to better understand the challenges of translating a complex shape into a robust build. At the time Lecturer Ian Prowse was quoted on the College website as saying “This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to see a bespoke project in action. The barrel roof is a very technical build and an exciting opportunity for a site carpenter to get involved with.”

Waterproofing the roof called for a fully adhered Danosa membrane. As we have mentioned in other case studies, Danosa products fit well with the vagaries of the Cornish climate. Good sun and UV protection may come top of the list for most Cornwall summers but waterproofing products also have to be able to withstand wind and rain as well as the force of our Cornish winters. We were left in no doubt about this as our work coincided with a period of high winds making a challenging project even more so.

We’d like to thank the builders for giving us a chance to prove our expertise and work on such an interesting project. Having worked in the past on a variety of structures including the base of wind turbines this wasn’t the first circular project which we have completed. Nevertheless it is one which thanks to its three dimension complex shape we will remember with pride.