Viking WarmSpan provides Dunedin Art superior protection

Challenge

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery needed a new roof. The existing one was a mixture of profiled metal and membrane installed on both ply and concrete substrates. The building had serious condensation issues and the old butyl membrane seams were letting in water thus deeming the roof-mounted plant susceptible of collapsing through the decaying timber substrate.

The Dunedin City Council set a strict brief for the Art Gallery’s new roof - improve (i) weather tightness and (ii) thermal efficiency. It was also paramount the new roofing solution to be installed without disrupting or removing the items housed in the building and that the building remained operational.

Viking WarmSpan was specified for this reason, but also because the lightweight nature of Viking WarmSpan would also significantly reduce the stress on the building without compromising its structural integrity.

Solution

Viking WarmSpan is a BRANZ appraised, warm-roof-on-steel roofing system designed for low-sloped roofs. It has been engineered in New Zealand and is the country’s simplest and most energy-efficient warm roof system. The full proprietary system is made up of three components: (i) a wide spanning steel tray roof deck that also forms the vapour barrier; (ii) KingSpan Polyisocyanurate rigid insulation panels adhered on top; waterproofed with (iii) one of Viking’s Membrane Systems.

The first stage was to remove; recycle; and replace the 550m2 of tired rubber membrane as well as the steel roofs.

Viking WarmSpan was installed; incorporating its trapezoidal steel substrate, integrated vapour barrier, and two layers of 50mm polyiso insulation – for ultimate thermal performance and achieving a continuous R-rating of R4. 3.0m wide rolls of heat-weldable Viking Enviroclad TPO membrane were installed with no end-laps as each roll extended the full width of the roof.

Unlike plywood or concrete substrates, the steel substrate made the roof 100% watertight from the early stages and a permanent roof safety system was also installed to the perimeter.

Result

The workmanship of the Viking Approved Applicator was put to the test when, 15 students climbed from a neighbouring building; jumped the razor-wire perimeter and had a party on the newly installed roof. The roof survived comfortably – the robust nature of Viking’s materials along with the quality of workmanship proving to be a winning durable combination.