Client: West Cheshire College
Structural Engineer: Gifford
Decking contractor: Fisher Engineering
Decking system: ComFlor® 80 / RoofDek 135

The challenge

West Cheshire College has committed to building two new high-quality campuses at Ellesmere Port and Cheshire which will improve vocational opportunities for young people and extend the range of opportunities for adults to develop skills.

The Ellesmere Port Campus involves the construction of a 19,500m² new build art, design and media, hospitality and beauty block. Running in parallel, the Chester Campus construction programme consists of a 6,000m² science and technology teaching facility. The main focus of both campuses is an internal project court where vocational students of different trades are able to work alongside one another in building a house, within the project court itself. 

The solution

By offering a comprehensive range of steel composite floor and roof decking systems, Building Systems UK (A Tata Steel Enterprise) was in the unique position of being able to meet all of the roofing and flooring requirements for the College project.

As part of the new build programme, 11,000m² of ComFlor® 80 composite floor decking was specified for both campuses, along with 2,300m² of RoofDek 135 structural roof decking.

RoofDek is ideal for creating contemporary roofing systems. It uses structural metal decking and membranes to provide a flat roofing solution. The profiled decks provide long spanning capabilities that allow the contractor to reduce secondary supports, eliminating the requirement for inplane roof bracing – ensuring a visually pleasing ad architecturally-sensitive finished structure can be achieved.

Building Systems UK's ComFlor® 80 composite decking system enabled the structural engineers at Gifford to create an architecturally striking and structurally robust building. ComFlor® 80 is a shallow composite profile with an unpropped spanning capability of 4.2 metres. Supported, spans of over 5.0 metres can be achieved.

In the case of the campuses at West Cheshire College, the large spans achieved have resulted in less structural steel being required – providing cost-effectiveness. The composite systems also benefit from the use of prefabricated components that can be rapidly installed, enabling construction programme predictability that will ultimately allow the College to benefit from quicker occupation.