CA Group goes to great lengths for Marks and Spencer

CA Group has recently completed work on the new Marks and Spencer’s distribution centre. The building, which will be the largest in the M&S property portfolio, was built using CA Building Products roofing system River-Therm^® on the roof and Twin-Therm^® on the walls. Last year, ProLogis, the leading global provider of distribution facilities, chose CA Roofing Services to provide and install the 95,000m² roof and installation was completed in just 12 weeks.

One key aspect of the build was the sheer size of the roof. The warehouse building stands at 515 metres long with a radius of 1.5km and roof pitch of 1.5 degrees at the eaves and ensuring a positive fall at the apex. This presented CA Roofing Services the challenge of fitting the longest single roof sheet that it has ever produced; a record breaking 178 metres long. To allow for roof sheets of this size they were rolled on-site at eaves by CA Building Products, this enabled the roof to be laid very quickly.

Brian Watson, Commercial Director, CA Group said: “The M&S warehouse is the longest roof CA Group has ever been asked to manufacture and install. As far as we are aware the size of the roof sheet is unmatched in the UK.”

As the warehouse design included a curved roof it was imperative that the designers and architects used materials that would avoid water build up.  One of the problems with a large shallow curved roof is that in a storm, water will be slowed or stopped as it runs off the roof, ponding then occurs and the profile is submerged. All standing seam secret fix roofs ensure the roof breathes by allowing air to flow via the side-lap but where air can enter, so can water. River-Therm^® with its unique drainage channel captures water passing the side lap and takes it away to the gutter thus eliminating leakage into the building. The River-Therm^® roofing system was manufactured using Corus Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra^® in goosewing grey to provide the ultimate in durability and guaranteed performance. The 40 year inspection and maintenance free Confidex Sustain^® Guarantee gives the client peace of mind and a CarbonNeutral building envelope.

ProLogis have worked with CA Group for over 12 years and together have delivered many technical solutions to demands and barriers such as size, environment and sustainability.

Brian Watson, Commercial Director, CA Group said: “Meeting the challenge of scale on this project was a great achievement for CA Group and our River-Therm^® product provided the ideal solution.

The fact that ProLogis involved us from the initial stages and contributed to the design process, has certainly been instrumental in the success of this project.”

Marks and Spencer plan to open this new facility by late 2010.

To read more about the project click here to read the case study.

Watch a video of River-Therm^®‘s ease of installation

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