Bunurong / Boon Warung Peoples of the Kulin Nation
Victoria
WBa provided lead consultant services for the Tapestry Foundation of Australia’s workshop, to replace the sawtooth iron sheet roofing which was the source of water ingress into the main work spaces underneath. The challenge with this project was that the replacement of the roof triggered modern roof plumbing standards and a ‘performance solution’ was required.
Fabric repairs included widened box gutters, plant platform, double glazed skylights, roof sheeting, down pipe connections and overflows. The challenges and risks were replacing a whole roof with a functioning workshop below. Careful management and staging of the works by the contractor resulted in minor disruption below, completing works bay by bay and organising an appropriate time to complete internal works with the user client. The roof replacement provided the opportunity to improve the thermal performance of the building.
The completion of these works ensured an 1880 Charles Webb building was preserved for the future.
The new roof benefits both the way we work and operate. Primarily, it has improved the efficiency of how we operate because the absence of intermittent leakage has meant we can focus on the task the Workshop was set up for instead of having to actively manage the environment in which we work. As well, the cleaning of the roof cavities and the replacement of the insulation has eliminated the continual detritus fall that characterises old buildings, again to the detriment of our prime purpose, and re-insulating the roof to modern standards has reduced energy costs and improved sustainability.Â