Builders' merchant Jewson has helped bring the Isle of Wight's Ryde Arena back to its best after severe weather damaged the building and its roof last winter.
The Ryde Arena became an iconic community venue in 2015 when, faced with closure, local residents rallied together to create a charity that would keep the 1,000 capacity arena open. The newly formed Ryde Arena Trust Ltd. took on the lease for the arena and identified that a number of building improvements were required for the long term continued use of the venue. But before they could get started, high winds ripped off part of the roof, with a combined surface area of 720m², in November last year. This caused substantial water damage to the arena's interior and left the building unfit for use.

In order to carry out the extensive repair, the project required a partner with an expert knowledge of flat roofing and stock that was both affordable and readily available. There was also a need for on-site training and guidance during the installation process.

"We quickly recognised that this would be a challenging project," said Rob Heathfield, managing director of Heathfield Developments, the company contracted to carry out the repairs.

"As well as working to a tight budget, we had to find a roofing system that would repair the damage and also work with the existing, undamaged part of the structure. Our local Jewson branch stocked a wide variety of specialist roofing products, but we lacked the knowledge as to how to install them."

Sunny Lotay, national flat roofing development manager for the Jewson roofing team, worked alongside Heathfield Developments to develop a solution that involved attaching a number of partial roof overlays on to the existing structure to seal the gaps. This meant the contractors did not need to remove large portions of the remaining, structurally sound covering.

Far from being an ordinary project, the repair work was not all plain sailing. As well as being exposed to the elements and maritime weather conditions, the arena sits on a busy harbour front complete with a hoverport and a hovercraft that takes almost 40 trips each day. Every hovercraft arrival and departure created a spray of seaweed and seawater which, when combined with strong winds, made working conditions on the roof far from ideal. Combatting this required expert timing, and the contractors were required to take shelter multiple times a day.

Upon completion in February 2016, the Ryde Arena was issued with a 15 year warranty to cover any additional weathering repairs related to the new roof.