Bloc, Manchester (Bruntwood)
Carrick Construction was appointed to install a retrofit smart blue-green roof for a Manchester...
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Key Facts:
- Retrofit blue-green roof construction
- SuDS design
- Urban greening
- Design and build
Project Summary
Bloc Manchester is a cutting-edge office space located in the heart of Manchester city centre. As part of a £50 million redevelopment, Bruntwood designed Bloc to foster a sense of balance – offering an urban oasis that supports a healthy work-life harmony.
Working in collaboration with group colleagues at The Environmental Protection Group, alongside Polypipe and Kisters, Carrick Construction was appointed to install the retrofit smart blue-green roof for the building. The objective was to harness the power of sustainable water management, as well as introducing biodiversity to an urban landscape.
Challenges
The build commenced in June 2021 and the month saw very high temperatures which posed a threat to the bespoke wildflower turf.
The inner-city location of the site, along with limited storage options meant that access for deliveries was challenging.
The roof’s limited weight capacity required careful calculations to determine the appropriate amount of substrate, the water retention limits, and the weight of the wildflower installation. These constraints also affected how many materials and pieces of machinery could be positioned on specific areas of the roof at any one time.
Solution
To combat accessibility challenges, the team arranged a staggered delivery and used early morning slots. The movement of the materials and machinery from kerbside to rooftop was undertaken as quickly as possible to cause minimal disruption to the local neighbourhood.
The wildflower turf was laid rapidly and heavily irrigated to prevent irreversible damage. The initial construction schedule of three weeks was achieved in just two weeks through a combination of longer working days and careful planning.
THE RESULTS
The roof retrofit incorporated Polypipe’s Polysync and Permavoid systems, allowing rainwater to be captured and stored beneath the substrate layer using Permavoid attenuation tanks. This stored water is then recycled through passive sub-surface irrigation to nourish the vegetation above.
The project was completed ahead of schedule, and the roof is monitored by United Utilities to assess how storing and re-using rainwater at roof level can reduce the volume of surface water run-off entering its sewer network. With the increasing intensity of storm events, constructing SuDS helps to alleviate the urban heat island effect, and comes with additional benefits such as amenity value, improving water quality and managing a 100-year storm event in an ever-changing climate.
The blue roof element was designed and constructed in line with all local and national guidance and frameworks.
The project was recognised for its innovation and contributions to climate resilience, featuring in the UK Green Building Council’s Innovation Challenge, also winning the Regeneration and Retrofit category at the susdrain awards.
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