At an impressive awards ceremony hosted at London’s Royal Horseguards Hotel on 7th June 2024, the mastic asphalt industry gathered together to celebrate outstanding projects and future stars of the industry at the Mastic Asphalt Council (MAC) Awards 2024 sponsored by SIG Roofing.
Almost 200 key players from the sector attended the event which is one of the most prestigious in the calendar for the waterproofing industry. In recognition of the growing diversity of mastic asphalt applications, there were four different project-related categories at the 2024 awards – namely Car Decks and Paving; General Works, Development and Hybrid; Heritage; and Small Works Project of the Year.
The winners and highly commended nominees were announced for each of the awards categories, as well as the winner of the strongly contested Apprentice of the Year accolade.
Following the awards presentation, the attendees were entertained by guest speaker Stuart Pearce MBE, one of England’s greatest football defenders and a Nottingham Forest legend. Stuart’s emotional celebration after scoring his penalty at Euro ’96 has be-come one of football’s most iconic images. More recently, Stuart has had a high profile coaching career, with six years in charge of England U21s and two years as first team coach at West Ham United FC, as well as being a regular on talkSPORT.
Stuart delivered a great speech, even including reference to mastic asphalt within his talk. At the event, an impressive sum was also raised for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, which support and care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Apprentice of the Year Sponsored by BriggsAmasco
Winner: Frankie Storrie, Oxley Asphalte Roofing Services
Frankie, who only turned 17 in November 2023, was declared the MAC Apprentice of the Year. He left school at 16 with no qualifications and prior to starting his mastic asphalt apprenticeship, Frankie’s employer Oxley Asphalte kindly let him have time out of his working day to complete functional skills online lessons to afford him the opportunity to improve his grades. In his own time he has also attended New City College Hackney alongside his apprenticeship studies to carry out English and Maths lessons.
Frankie is very highly regarded by both his employer Jack Oxley, himself a former apprentice, and Mastic Asphalt Lecturer Alf Tufano who commended the amazing amount of progress Frankie has made in such a short amount of time. Frankie is already displaying outstanding practical work and overcame significant challenges to successfully complete the Functional Skills Level 1 qualification required as part of the standard apprenticeship.
It has been a whirlwind few months for Frankie, as he is celebrating a double awards success, having also won the Young Roofer of the Year accolade at the NFRC (National Federation of Roofing Contractors) UK Roofing Awards 2024 hosted at the InterContinental London – The O2 on 10th May 2024.
Car Decks and Paving Project of the Year
Winner: John Fetherston Roofing – SuperValu, Malahide, Dublin
Highly Commended: Sussex Asphalte – Shoreham Port, Southwick, Brighton
Mastic asphalt was chosen for application to the 1,500m2 car park deck of SuperValu’s large grocery store in Malahide, Dublin, in order to provide a waterproof, hard-wearing surface. Mastic asphalt had previously been used as the car park decking surface, so it was chosen again on the basis of its durability and performance. The project involved a full strip out of the existing asphalt back to the concrete deck.
SuperValu forms part of the Musgrave Group, Ireland’s largest grocery and food distributor, with 192 independently owned stores throughout Ireland. This was a challenging project, as the car park is located on the roof of the building, so it was not possible to get skips onto the roof, so every area that was stripped need to be removed using a pick-up truck. The store was also open during the works, so it was important that there was no disruption to the underlying building.
John Fetherston Roofing first applied glass fibre membrane to seal the areas being stripped, before the application of 2 x 10mm coats of IKO Permaphalt and 30mm Permapark Paving. There was no possibility of introducing a screed to the falls to the deck, so the mastic asphalt system build-up was applied and an SMA was laid to create the falls.
General Work, Development and Hybrid Project of the Year
Winner: BriggsAmasco – Sumburgh Head Lighthouse and Visitors Centre, Shetland
Highly Commended: Sussex Asphalte – Leventhorpe Court, Gosport
Built in 1821, Sumburgh Head Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in Shetland. Rising above the Sumbugh head cliffs at the southernmost point of mainland Shetland, the lighthouse is visible from land and sea from miles around. It was used as a key location for BBC 1’s popular crime drama ‘Shetland’ and is a Category A listed building.
Following a major restoration, Sumburgh Head Lighthouse was recognised by Visit Scotland as a World Class Visitor Centre and Nature Reserve. BriggsAmasco was select-ed by principal contractor DITT Construction to supply a new roof for the lighthouse site’s engine room. As part of a complex programme, operatives needed to remove an existing mastic asphalt system prior to the roof’s full renewal.
The roof build-up comprised an IKO vapour control layer, polyurethane insulation board, sheathing felt and IKO’s Permaphalt mastic asphalt system hand laid to 25mm thickness in a two layer application. It was essential that the works did not interrupt daily operations at the lighthouse’s accommodation, café and gift shop that remained open during the refurbishment.
The project involved carefully lifting the roof’s existing leadwork before reinstating it as part of the refurbishment. This was made more complex due to the lighthouse’s location in an exposed coastal area frequented by high winds and near freezing tempera-tures which were a habitual hindrance to BriggsAmasco operatives. BriggsAmasco’s removal of the original roof was also complicated by having to position around 100 x 50kg sandbags at different roof locations to prevent it from lifting.
Heritage Project of the Year
Winner: Oxford Asphalt Company – Keble College, Oxford
Highly Commended: Sussex Asphalte – Netherton Farm, Andover
Keble College is one of the largest colleges at the University of Oxford and required a renovation for its student bar roof. The roof had previously been protected with mastic asphalt, and the college wanted to maintain its aesthetic appearance, however the asphalt needed to be painted with white solar paint which would reflect onto the higher level windows surrounding the single storey building. To address this issue and enhance the environmental credibility of the project, a green roofing system was proposed and was ultimately chosen by the college.
The Oxford Asphalt Company Ltd and IKO collaborated on this project, utilising the IKO Permaphalt system to create a durable, watertight, aesthetically pleasing roof. A 20mm thick layer of IKO Permaphalt was applied in two 10mm coats on IKO black sheathing felt separating membrane, ensuring a seamless and impermeable waterproofing barrier.
On insulated sloping timber surfaces over 5 degrees, a 20mm thick layer of IKO Permaphalt was laid in three coats on EML over IKO black sheathing felt fixed to the slopes. This application not only provided robust waterproofing but also improved the build-ing’s thermal efficiency by reducing heat loss through the insulated roof. There were many challenges to overcome, such as the low parapet which could not be altered due to the building’s listed status. This limitation meant that the detail had to remain the same and only 50mm of insulation was able to be installed.
Small Works Project of the Year
Winner: Oxley Asphalte Roofing Services – Bevendean Primary School Pond, Brighton
Highly Commended: Sussex Asphalte – Balmoral Court, Worthing
Bevendean is a community school in Brighton with large green open spaces. In the centre of the school was a derelict pond that needed some love and attention. The pond had been a tranquil and rich source of learning for many students over the years, and when Oxley Asphalte heard the school were fundraising to help refurbish and water-proof the pond, they stepped up to help alongside IKO.
The Oxley Asphalte team helped out the school by applying mastic asphalt free of charge to the pond over the summer break. Mastic asphalt helped to waterproof the pond and has given it a new lease of life for many years. The school children are now enjoying this rejuvenated space and it has once again become a source of learning about nature.
The Mastic Asphalt Council would like to officially thank the sponsors of the event, namely headline sponsor SIG Roofing, BriggsAmasco who sponsored the Apprentice of the Year Award, W J Horrod who sponsored guest speaker Stuart Pearce, IKO who sponsored the pre-dinner event and John Fetherston Roofing who sponsored the lunch table drinks.