The ACO Blue roof installed at Queensgate Mews
ACO Building Drainage combined with Aquality to retrofit a blue roof in central London where it was initially thought not possible.
Part of the collection of quaint residential and commercial properties at Queen’s Gate Place Mews is The Lodge. Recently revamped and extended with a new mansard roof to enable a second storey, one of the key challenges of the project was meeting the SuDS (sustainable urban drainage system) requirement and managing the water runoff from the roof, as set out by the The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea planning committee.
Doing what no others can
With sustainable drainage as a vital factor of the extension being granted planning approval, Keystone consulted several blue roof manufacturers and roofing contractors to look at how this could be achieved. However, all the suppliers Keystone approached had refused the project and stated that it would be impossible, given the small roof area and the necessity of holding the water on the roof’s surface while controlling the runoff rate.
The patented ACO blue roof meets planning conditions and building regulations
ACO and Aquality stepped in with an approach that nobody else could offer. Using ACO’s innovative patented RoofBloxx attenuation system, this was adapted into a free-standing retrofit application that sits separately above the roof construction, without adding any risk of water leaking onto the mansard roof itself.
Martin Durham, Managing Director, and Owner of Keystone Construction said: “We were faced with a very tricky challenge set by the authorities. On one hand, to achieve planning permission, we had to comply by controlling the runoff to prevent flood risks and overwhelming the sewer. However, we couldn’t go forward with a typical blue roof, as holding water on top of a conventional roof invariably adds risk and goes against best practice of roof construction. Water will eventually seep into the roof layers and compromise the structure.
“This was a key reason for choosing to work with Aquality and ACO – as their solution was unlike anybody else’s. By being a standalone system, we could install it on top of the roof build up and it works independently of the roof. Alongside the ingenuity of the system itself, we were very pleased with the design service as well as the ease of the installation too.”
To learn more about our blue roof system and to watch our animation please see https://www.aco.co.uk/blue-green-roofs