Roofshield® Demonstrates its Superior Performance in the Large-Scale Restoration of the West Dean College of Arts & Conservation Roof
West Dean is an internationally recognised specialist college, with an outstanding profile for arts, conservation and design education. Spanning two locations in West Dean and London, the college offers a cross-disciplinary environment and a focus on hands-on skills with vocational application.
The West Dean campus is nestled in the stunning West Sussex countryside. Once the family home of the poet and arts patron Edward James, West Dean was established as a centre for education and training by the Edward James Foundation in 1971. The campus consists of a mixture of historic buildings, surrealist-inspired gardens and rolling South Downs countryside.
Time and weather have not been kind to this magnificent Grade II listed building’s roof, or roofs to be more precise. The building comprises of 39 roofs in total and to add an extra level of complexity, each of these roofs varies in pitch and condition.
The restoration project was assigned to Clarke Roofing, a trusted family business that has been serving the South East for more than seven decades and excels in such challenging works. Clarke Roofing has earned a reputation for excellence, professionalism and craftsmanship in the roofing and building industry, winning several awards for its work spanning across commercial, heritage and domestic sectors.
The company’s teams salvaged a limited number of slates from stripping and used 26,000 new Welsh slates. This was due to the existing slates having been reused many times, which limited its angle of creep. A vast number of structural repairs were required, with over 1,000 architects’ instructions. Additionally, due to lack of ventilation, every area of leadwork had severe carbonation. Working with the Lead Sheet Association (LSA) and Lead Contractors Association (LCA), Clarke Roofing was able to eliminate this issue for the future preservation of the building.
Sarked and un-sarked roofs sat side by side, each requiring a different detail but still able to utilise Roofshields' performance characteristics.
All of the products used were chosen to enhance ventilation, provide long term durability and not compromise the heritage building or listed building consent. Thanks to its outstanding breathability, Roofshield® allows moisture vapour to escape from the roof space while preventing water ingress with W1 water penetration resistance. This feature prevents issues like condensation and mould growth, ensuring a healthy indoor environment and prolonging the life of the roof and the overall structure.
Roofshield®, the legendary air and vapour permeable roofing underlay, was an essential component of West Dean’s renovated and enhanced, now fully ventilated roof.
Made in the UK by Don & Low, a vertically integrated manufacturer with over 230 years of history, Roofshield® provides consistent performance, excellent durability and flexible installation – attributes that are considered vital when it comes to preserving the structural integrity of any building of special architectural or historic interest. Roofshield® can also withstand challenges posed by external factors such as UV radiation and temperature fluctuations.
The BBA has certified Roofshield® for use in unventilated cold and warm pitched roofs, in both fully supported and unsupported roofing applications. Roofshield® is also NSAI-certified and NHBC-accepted and demonstrates its versatility due to Its high wind uplift resistance, allowing use across all zones (1-5).
Don & Low’s commitment to environmental sustainability is demonstrated by the membrane’s Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) report, which offers objective, comparable and third-party verified data on its environmental performance.