Bristol
Products Used
The General Hospital Bristol was first opened in mid XIX century and was a working hospital up until its closure in 2012. Following significant bomb damage during World War II, the majority of the pitched and mansard roofs including the ogee dome were converted to flat roofs. The building was awarded Grade II listing in 1977 in recognition for its special historic and architectural heritage.
Over the past years the building complex has been returned to its former glory in a large-scale redevelopment with the majority of the flat roof areas being reinstalled as the original French Renaissance-style pitched roofs. One of the challenges of the project was to guarantee water tightness throughout the duration of the work in order to protect historic internal features. This was done by temporarily protecting the stripped roof areas, and ensuring that a watertight envelope was maintained.
Due to the building’s heritage status, the specification was centred around high quality materials and demanded roofing slates of exceptional weather resilience. Having worked with SSQ Del Carmen First on numerous projects in the past, M. Camilleri & Sons Roofing Ltd suggested the slates to be used on this project as a suitable alternative to the indigenous slate material on the remaining roofs. Del Carmen slates accounted for 85% of the 2000m2 pitched roof areas alongside the recovered original Welsh slates.
The General was a finalist in the Roof Tile Application for a Heritage Roof category at the RCI Pitched Roofing Awards 2018.
