GBS Roofing Completes Work At Former Linen Manufacturing Complex In Belfast

— 01 September 2022

GBS Roofing has completed work at the The Ewart, a historic, listed building in the heart of Belfast.

The listed Ewart building is the only remaining part of the former Ewart’s linen manufacturing complex, dating from the late 1800’s. It will offer 210,000 sq.ft of ?exible, sustainable and dynamic office and retail space that will be part-occupied by Deloitte, one of the world's largest professional services firms, for their new Belfast headquarters.

GBS Roofing was contracted to install all flat roofing requirements at The Ewart building, Belfast. This included a number of flat roofs on the original listed Ewart building, as well as the main flat roof and a high-level terrace on the new, 17 storey tower.

Barry Mairs, Managing Director, GBS Roofing says: “The Ewart building has an iconic presence on Belfast’s Bedford Street and GBS Roofing is proud to have played an integral role in its completion. The roofs had specific design and functional requirements which required very different approaches to installation and product application.”

Completion of the roofing works on both the Listed Ewart building and new Tower Building took approximately 12 months.

Barry Mairs, adds: “On the listed Ewart building, GBS Roofing completed all flat roof areas using various Sika Trocal systems. It is best practice with historic buildings to avoid where possible, the use of systems which require hot works in their application. GBS Roofing proposed a PVC option to reduce the associated risks, given the original Ewart building’s listed status. The Sika Trocal systems linked seamlessly to the pitched roof areas of this older building, delivering superior waterproofing capabilities.

“The new, 17 story tower had very different requirements. The entire roof area was flat and would ultimately have areas of machinery fitted and the resulting foot traffic for maintenance activities would require a highly durable flat roofing solution. GBS Roofing installed an IKO Bituminous system to both the main high-level roof and a large roof terrace on level 15.”

The roof terrace, which wrapped around three elevations of the building, was completed with the IKO Bituminous system and finished with decorative A&G Fiamma paving flagstones.

More information on the Ewart building can be found at theewartbelfast.com