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Thu March 28 2024

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Gradient lifts the curtain on major theatre refurbishment project

4 Jul 11 Theatre-goers in Newcastle-upon-Tyne are assured of many an evening’s entertainment now that the roof of the city’s famous Theatre Royal has been completely refurbished with a new single-layer roofing system from Gradient Flat Roofing.

Despite an alternative system being specified originally, the Gradient solution was eventually chosen on the recommendation of the roofing contractor who had used it on a number of previous successful projects.

The roofing project formed part of a £4.75 million restoration project on the historic Grade I listed building, which first opened its doors to customers in 1837.

“Bonding our insulation boards together in the factory to make a single layer system is preferable to a traditional multi-layer system for any project, but especially so for an old and historic building such as this,” comments Gradient’s Paul Simpson.

“Having used our services on previous projects the roofing contractor - Springs Roofing of Chester-le-Street – advised the project architect that using a Gradient system instead of the original system that had been specified would bring a number of important benefits to the project.”

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“After discussions with Gradient we realised that their insulation solution would eliminate the need to add an additional layer of felt to the 500 sq metre roof as had been originally planned,” says Springs Roofing Managing Director, Keith Muldoon.

As the expert in single layered roofing Gradient was able to create a totally bespoke insulation scheme which made full use of the falls provided by the existing roof structure to ensure good drainage. The sections of 130mm Powerdeck B insulation were then manufactured off-site in carefully controlled factory conditions. “This resulted in the need for far less on-site bonding and skilled labour, plus a more rugged and reliable finished roof,” adds Paul Simpson.

Due to the city centre location of the site, arrangements were made with merchants Cleveland Roofing to deliver and install the insulation over a weekend period so that any disruption to local traffic would be minimised.

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