Hatton Hall, Wellingborough

The brief

Hatton Hall is a sheltered housing complex built in 1980, comprising of 21 flats. The building had to be re-roofed without disturbing the occupants who would remain in their home while the work took place.

The Hatton Hall project was to refurbish the roof, improve the drainage and insulation, and bring it up to current building control standards.

A thermographic survey of the roof was carried out by IKO, which confirmed that it was sound enough to have an overlay of the IKO ULTRA Life 30 bituminous membrane rather than stripping it back and rebuilding.

IKO ULTRA Life 30 was primarily chosen by the client for the 30 year guarantee. One section of the roof to be repaired was on top of dormers. Flame-free IKO ULTRA Life 30 membranes were used because of the potential fire risk of the abutting pitched tiled roof.

The challenges

The IKO survey identified that the existing roof drainage falls directed water away from the outlet locations, leading to severe ponding.

In addition, one of the main causes of the leaks occurring in the building related to the parapet walls. The parapet concrete coping was allowing some water penetration through the open coping stone joints, so the existing ‘chase and flashing parapet detail’ needed attention. Other leaks related to poor detailing at pipe penetrations.

The existing modular rooflights did not meet current standards for thermal performance and fragility, so it was advised that these items should also be replaced.

All remedial work had to be carried out while the Hatton Hall occupants – all over 60 – occupied the building, so disruption had to be kept to a minimum.

The solutions

A new tapered insulation scheme was designed to compensate for the fact that existing falls were directing water away from the drainage outlets.

Also, the existing ‘chase and flashing parapet detail’ was re-designed to carry the waterproofing up and over the parapet wall, eliminating the leakage that had stained the façade of the building.

The coping stones were removed and the new waterproofing membrane was dressed up and over the parapet walls, finishing in a GRP edge trim. The existing fragile and thermally inefficient rooflights were replaced by IKO Superlite Rooflights.

The IKO ULTRA Life 30 torch-on system, which was installed by IKO-approved contractor Breyor Group PLC, provided a new granular finish with improved adhesion and better coverage, meaning less foot-marking.

It is a two-layer roofing system guaranteed for 30 years against faulty design, materials, and workmanship – a factor which was key to the client’s choice.

IKO ULTRA Life 30 torch-on is designed to allow rapid installation of the built-up system, while the warm roof build-up allows an option for the system to be installed up to the underlay without the need for hot works.

Fire safety was also a vital factor, both during construction and in operation, as the building was occupied throughout. IKO ULTRA Life 30 roofing membranes contain IKO Prevent Graphite Technology (halogen-free), achieving the highest levels of fire performance in both UK and European fire tests. This allows unrestricted use under current UK Building Regulations.