Prater and Lindner Facades, both part of the German Lindner Group, have delivered a complete roofing and facade solution for one of the UK’s most ambitious projects – the new Library of Birmingham.
At an estimated cost of £188 million, the public library replaces Birmingham Central Library and upon completion in 2013 - will be the largest public library in the country.
The new Library of Birmingham has been designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo and is currently under construction by Carillion. Situated in Centenary Square at the very heart of Birmingham’s city center, the striking building will also play host to a new Birmingham Repertory theatre, and is being seen by Birmingham City Council as a flagship project for the Redevelopment of Birmingham.
To deliver a complete roofing solution, Prater supplied a hot melt roof system, whereby concrete was primed and then layered with Permaquik p6100. A fleece was then bedded onto the Permaquik, which formed the waterproofing, and then another layer of Permaquik was applied with a layer of cap sheet/protection felt over the top. This was then electronically tested for its integrity and insulated with solid slabs of insulation board.
Prater then installed cladding with Kingspan composite panels and single skin cladding sheets, as well as capping to the perimeter roof upstands using its very own aluminum powder coated products. In total, Prater has waterproofed 7500 square meters of the library, which also includes an area on the ground level podium.
In addition, Prater has formed a bio-diverse roof garden on top of the finishes using soil, pebbles and old tree branches, to attract local wildlife and to offer visitors a pleasant environment to enjoy all year round.
Paul Kearsley, Site Manager at Prater commented: “We have extensive experience in dealing with large, complex projects and have the ability to provide a complete roofing solution. This meant we were an ideal supply chain partner for the new Library of Birmingham.”
Among its own scope of works at the site, Lindner Facades Limited has installed the unusual and stunning façade for the Library of Birmingham. The building is effectively ‘wrapped’ in 8500m2 of unitised façade with a feature frieze of curved aluminum. The fifth and sixth floors are constructed using 3m wide, and up to 6.5m high gold anodized cladding. This cladding features again curved around the Shakespeare Memorial Room and Rotunda spotlight on the roof of the Library.
Moreover, Lindner Facades Limited has supplied 1500m2 of steel framed ground floor glazing with soffits and a number of bespoke doors. While further refurbishment work has been carried out on the adjacent REP theatre, with approx. 600m of windows to the front of the building and 2,500m2 of cast glass channel façade to the new extension at the back of the building.