Sarnafil has seen its system used time and again at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, with an extension to the campus’ Sportspark swimming and sports centre the latest in a long line of projects completed with its single ply membrane.

The company attributes the continued use of its system at UEA to the fruitful working relationship it has forged with its registered contractor, Belmont Roofing, responsible for the Sportspark installation and many more projects besides.

The new £4million Haydn Morris Hall is home to eight new badminton courts, which, in addition to the 12 existing courts in the Barclays Arena, make Sportspark the biggest badminton centre in Britain. Concealed by prominent parapet eaves, over 1,500m sq of Sarnafil’s S327-15EL membrane in Light Grey complete the roof extension.

The extension comes hot on the heels of a series of campus accommodation construction projects also featuring Sarnafil single ply installed by Belmont, a contractor operating in the eastern region, based in Norwich.

Having worked with main contractor Kier Eastern to ensure the use Sarnafil on the Sportspark extension, Belmont Roofing – something of a champion for Sarnafil – did likewise with RG Carter, main contractor on the accommodation constructions, securing an estimated £1.2million in roofing contracts overall at the UEA.

Comprising the Britten House, Browne House, Colman House, Constable Terrace, Kett House Nelson, Court Paston House and Victory House single-occupancy residences, and followed by the INTO international students’ residence block, the first of the new accommodation blocks built features a distinctive ‘snaked’ design characteristic to UEA. The buildings’ curvaceousness is echoed in the roofs too, which are curved both on-plan and in-section and have been predominately finished in Sarnafil’s G410-15ELF fully-adhered Lead Grey membrane with some matching decor profile.

“The curves were a particular challenge for us,” says John Farrow from Belmont. “The nearer to the buildings’ eaves, the steeper the roofs get, and from eave to eave is a continuous length of Sarnafil with decor profiling concealing the side laps. We successfully overcame these challenges to meet the projects’ aesthetic requirements. The overall development is something the architect LSI should be very proud of and I’m sure it’s a very pleasant environment for the students also.”

John says that the flexibility of the Sarnafil system is key to its repeat specification at UEA. “One of the great benefits of using Sarnafil is its flexibility and adaptability,” he continues. “All the roofs we’ve worked on at UEA have been different, but we’ve been able to meet their varying design and practical challenges as well as meet the aesthetic requirements of the client and architect with the same product.”

Sarnafil’s East Anglia technical advisor, Jonathan Bunn, concludes: “We’ve worked with John and the Belmont team since Sarnafil was first founded in the UK in the early 80s and our joint success at UEA is testament to good team work. We put great emphasis on the strength of our registered contractor system and these projects at UEA highlight why the combined forces of experienced contractors and a great product take some beating.”

Email: grapes.louise@sarnafil.co.uk