Chester Zoo’s 1.9 million visitors might flock to the attraction to see the animals every year, but few leave without a visit to the shop. And now the zoo’s management team can rest assured that its merchandise is safe and dry following a refurbishment of the shop roof using Firestone’s RubberGard EPDM roofing membrane.
The Firestone system was specified for a partial refurbishment of the roof to replace an existing roof covering that had reached the end of its service life. The simplicity of the system is said to have enabled the strip out of the problematic area to allow the RubberGard EPDM membrane, to be fully adhered to the newly installed plywood substrate creating a neat waterproofing solution.
Designed to provide a service life in excess of 50 years and offering rapid installation with no hot works and no nuisance odours, the Firestone system was ideal for installation at the zoo, which is open every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Flexible and permanently elastic, the system provides 300% elongation, preventing the risk of tearing or puncturing during installation or following project completion.
The shop roof refurbishment project has now been completed and the Firestone RubberGard EPDM system has reportedly been specified on several other schemes at Chester Zoo as part of the visitor attraction’s continuous asset development and facilities management programme.
Comments Carl Askew, facilities manager at Chester Zoo, said: “We are constantly investing in new habitats for our animals and new facilities for our visitors to ensure the comfort and enjoyment of all.
“The shop is an important part of revenue generation at Chester Zoo, which contributes to financing these development projects as well as generating funds for our conservation work, and we’re delighted that the new RubberGard EPDM roof has been installed so quickly and will provide us with decades of service.”
