IKO Polymeric and contactor FK Group have completed a roofing project for one of the biggest online grocery centres in the world – in under four months. This incredibly tight deadline was met with minimal material waste, thanks to a number of innovations developed specifically for the project by both companies.
The new fulfilment centre for premium British online supermarket, Ocado, is based in Erith, Kent, and will be operational in 2017. It will handle 200,000 orders a week and represents £185 million local investment.
The project started in September 2015 and was completed in December, a very short construction programme for a large – 48,000m2 – and challenging roofing project.
IKO Polymeric, the UK’s only single ply manufacturer, delivered several innovative solutions to complete the job with minimal waste.
Steve Hall, Managing Director of FK Group, comments: “IKO Polymeric demonstrated its usual proactive approach with innovations such as bespoke roll lengths and specific membrane overlap positioning allowing significant efficiencies to be achieved on site.”
Standard length membrane is typically 20 linear metres which then has to be cut or extended (by fixing additional sections on) to fit the required dimensions. IKO Polymeric manufactured its Amourplan PVC single ply membrane in bespoke rolls of 22.35, 19.20 and 8.00 linear metres to reduce waste and installation time for this project.
Another first was manufacturing half the rolls with the membrane overlap positioned on the opposite side to the other rolls. This 50/50 split meant the contractor could use two teams working simultaneously on either side of the ridge, rolling the membrane out in the same direction. Usually one team works on one side at a time.
FK Group developed a new technique for the project, welding eight rolls together to create a large (320m2) membrane ‘blanket’, rolling half back and then applying the adhesive to the area, rather than doing one roll at a time. This was possible because IKO’s Polymeric’s PU adhesive can be exposed for up to 25 minutes.
These innovative manufacturing and fitting methods saved time, resources and waste on a very large project, with 5,500m2 typically installed each week.
Steve Hall adds: “Working alongside FK Group, IKO made a significant contribution to the success of this job. As a key part of our supply chain, they helped us to develop and deliver a bespoke solution to our client in impressive time. ”
For more information on IKO Polymeric please visit www.ikogroup.co.uk/polymeric call 01257 488000. Follow @ikopolymeric on twitter.
