OUR LATEST CASE STUDY FOR DOWNLOAD - THE SILVERSTONE WING
« Curzon Street, Birmingham »
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 5:26AM 
Student dives are a thing of the past where the Unite Group are concerned. The UK’s leading provider of quality student accommodation has invested £24 million pounds in the construction of five student blocks on Curzon Street, a prime location near Birmingham's City centre. Ash & Lacy Building Systems was chosen to supply the roofing for the new build.
Carillion Plc was appointed to oversee the construction of 750 student bedrooms. The student blocks are of varying heights with the lowest at 21 metres, comprising seven storeys and the highest at 33 metres, or 11 storeys high. The initial seven storeys were constructed using Unite’s own modular system, developed to offer efficiency and economy. After the seventh storey a framework construction was employed to complete the required height level.
The Unite Group stipulated a robust and durable roof that would satisfy technical standards. Another important consideration was the visual design of the roofing system. Planning developments for the surrounding area feature residential blocks which will overlook the student accommodation. The contractor therefore required a roofing system that was both reliable and aesthetically pleasing for the neighbouring occupants.
Carillion Plc, along with roofing installers Apex Ltd, decided that Ash & Lacy's standing seam roofing system was the most suitable choice to fulfil their planning needs. Ash & Lacy supplied 1725m2 of AshZip, along with the AshJack framework and walk-able liners which provided a lightweight, solution which was easy to install.
The long continuous sheets of standing seam ensure excellent protection against harsh weather conditions, preventing problems such as rain leakage and wind uplift. Sheets can be manufactured on site and lifted into place, or for added convenience rolled out at eaves-level directly onto the roof. The standard AshZip insulated constructions and perforated absorbent linings ensure that the students will not experience discomfort from acoustics and reverberations affecting the building. Ash & Lacy also exceeded the required U-Values for air tightness.
Joe Toft, Contracts Manager for Apex Ltd commented "Initially it was a challenge to learn how to produce the curves as it was the first time we had used AshZip. The Ash & Lacy support team were great and once we became familiar with the system the overall results met all our expectations."