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The garden roof in the centre of
the Museum of London is one of the oldest installed in
London and has been in situ since 1976 when the building was
first created on historic London Wall, a few minutes walk
north of St Paul’s Cathedral. Its refurbishment was part of
a £20.5 million redevelopment of the museum’s lower
Galleries of Modern London which retell the story of London
and Londoners from 1666 to the present day. |
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The garden court roof, situated
alongside the museum’s Sackler Hall, has now been
refurbished and brought into the 21st century with a
versatile waterproofing solution that allows the museum to
change the emphasis of the landscape design to fit in with
any feature display that is taking place in the surrounding
galleries if required. |
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In order for the roof to take
shape and refurbishment work to begin, 360 tonnes of soil
had to be dug out by hand and removed by wheelbarrow through
the museum. Craning of equipment or construction materials
was vetoed because of the museum’s location, degree of
adjacent offices and its neighbouring community of domestic
residents. |
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The original asphalt roof
covering was also removed to expose the concrete deck
construction. A major issue for the new waterproofing was
the perimeter detailing where the waterproofing had to meet
the abutted glazing. This was overcome with using a cold
liquid applied waterproofing which is compatible with the
new root resistant elastomeric bitumen membrane system
installed to the main deck area. |
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Many of the original garden
features were retained for use at other locations around the
museum or used again in the creation of the current
contemporary design. Large granite and terracotta planters
were re-potted with plants to support the new fully
inhabited and functional beehive, which has been installed
as part of the City of London Festival. All of which can be
used as an educational resource for visiting school groups
who can learn about how both green roofs and bees benefit
the environment. |
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All works to the roof had to
take place with the museum remaining open throughout so a
co-ordinated approach between the museum, their project
manager Gavin McCourt MRICS, the roofing contractor, Russell
Trew Ltd and the waterproofing manufacturer, Bauder Ltd was
essential to the success of the installation. |
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The spectacular Galleries of
Modern London are now open to the public and are a real
testament to how interactive and advanced a museum can be.
Additionally, the museum, as part of its sustainability
plan, is looking to refurbish the remaining roofs on the
main building, so that there will be a large proportion of
differing green roofs, including biodiversity and native
species plug planted. |
| For
further information on Bauder Ltd see
www.roofinfo.co.uk/bauder |
