Cembrit’s B5 corrugated sheet has recently been used for much needed restoration work to the visitor centre building on the remote island of Skokholm. Located just off the west coast of the Pembrokeshire peninsula, the island is uninhabited most of the year, but home to thousands of seabirds including around 50,000 pairs of Manx shearwaters – 20% of the world population, and an environment that will put great demands on any building material. The original roof had fallen into disrepair and Cembrit’s B5 was chosen to provide a robust and practical roofing solution capable of withstanding the weather conditions in the long term.
Skokholm island is roughly a mile in length and half a mile across at its widest point. A home for many types of wildlife the island is a National Nature Reserve and the home of Britain’s first bird observatory. Owned by the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales the facilities on the island are a key responsibility of the Trust. A restoration project is underway to restore the island’s accommodation and infrastructure to a suitable condition so that visitors can once again experience the island’s beauty, learn about its wildlife and enjoy the magic of an extended visit.
The restored central block is used to house visitors and consists of six bedrooms, a large laboratory, library and visitor centre. Cracks and holes in the roof had rendered one room unusable and left at least two others with damp problems, from which the furnishings had suffered accordingly. The old asbestos roof panels were completely removed and replaced by the durable, rust and rot proof natural grey Cembrit B5 corrugated sheeting.
"Cembrit have been very generous in their support for the project" explains Steve Sutcliffe who coordinated the majority of the restoration work. "The replacement of the central block roof was integral to the running of the reserve. The Cembrit B5 corrugated sheeting was perfect for our requirements as we needed a hardwearing and resilient roofing solution that would cope against the temperamental weather conditions and would also blend with the islands beautiful terrain."
Cembrit B5 metric corrugation is a more modern and deeper profile than the traditional 3 inch profile corrugated sheeting. It can consequently be used to a lower pitch and with smaller overlaps making it ideal for projects such as Skokholm Nature reserve. B5 is available in 14 different lengths, ranging from 4’ to 10’ 6 and are approximately 40% wider than the older 3 inch profile design offering better coverage per sheet.
