Sustainable alternative to a metal roof

Flexible and lightweight roofing membrane

For the renovation of the centuries-old stone Ghent Winter Circus, contractor Furnibo was looking for a new roof. An important requirement: the original look of weathered metal had to be retained. RENOLIT AKORPLAN Design roofing membranes and profiles offered the ideal solution.

The Winter Circus was erected in 1885 and for many years, even during the winter, it provided a wonderful setting for circus and theater performances of all kinds. Until a fierce fire destroyed the circus in 1920. After that, the building was used as a garage and eventually became vacant, resulting in squalor. A shame! Fortunately, the City of Ghent saw this too. The Winter Circus Building, with its rich heritage value, will be repurposed as a concert hall, office and co-working space, lounge area with café and restaurant. Without sacrificing additional land, this will create an attractive place for city residents.

To bring the building back into use, the renovation of as much as 6,000 m² of roof area was necessary. In part, this had a complex dome shape. "For this project, the aesthetic aspect was extremely important," underlines Jolien Haesebeyt, sales manager at RENOLIT ALKORPLAN roofing products BENELUX. "The roof also had to be approved by Monumentenzorg. For this reason, we proposed the anthracite-colored RENOLIT ALKORPLAN Design system."

Reliability combined with appearance

This system combines the reliability of RENOLIT ALKORPLAN plastic roofing membranes in PVC-P with the appearance of a metal roof, thanks to the RENOLIT ALKORPLAN Design profiles. These standing seam profiles, available in two sizes and several colors, are welded to the roofing membrane with hot air. "The RENOLIT ALKORPLAN Design system has many advantages: high flexibility, limited weight, easy finishing of roof details and unlimited creative possibilities."

The decaying metal dome roof was demolished. Then began the new construction with plywood and Rockwool insulation boards. Because of the new use as an event hall, a special acoustic construction was chosen. As icing on the cake, the dome was made waterproof with the mechanically fastened RENOLIT ALKORPLAN Design roofing membrane in anthracite color. 

"This roofing membrane, thanks to its flexibility and light weight, lends itself extremely well to tight and fast finishing of all possible
complex roof shapes, such as this special dome shape. Combined with the imitation standing seam profiles, it creates a reliable seal with the appearance of a metal roof, without the problems of connection, noise or condensation." 

"The result is quite impressive," says Jelle Defrancq, business unit manager of the roofing company Tectum Dekkers. "Thanks to the cooperation with our supplier RENOLIT ALKORPLAN roofing products, we delivered a beautiful end product. RENOLIT also guided us very well including periodic site checks, support with wind load calculations and smooth cooperation with architect and main contractor." 

Contribution to a sustainable living environment

The Winter Circus project is a model of climate-neutral and energy-efficient renovation. This is a theme that is also important to RENOLIT. As a manufacturer of PVC-P sealing membranes, the company has for many years been committed to innovative solutions that contribute to a sustainable living environment. Examples include membranes for cool roof roofs, blue roofs and green roofs as well as an innovative fastening system for solar panels.