Minehead Library

The new roof at Minehead’s refurbished and extended library showcased Whitesales’ ability to design, supply and install truly bespoke rooflight solutions.

Somerset County Council wanted the library extension to be flooded with light to make it a bright and welcoming space but didn’t want to end up with a glazed roof which looked like a greenhouse. The design they proposed was for a contemporary, inverted pitch ridge light with a bespoke gutter detail to the centre. However, the original specification from a different supplier couldn’t meet some of the key aesthetic criteria they wanted, prompting the main contractor Harris Bros & Collard to turn to Whitesales for help.

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Based at the company’s headquarters in Cranleigh, Surrey, the Whitesales design team scoped the complex project using a bespoke 10 degree em.glaze dual pitch gable ended lantern light. The framework and glazing bars were all in polyester powder coated aluminium and the double-glazed sealed units featured non-fragile toughened glass on the outside and low E laminated glass on the inside.

The Whitesales’ design ensured that the layout of the glazing bars in the rooflight corresponded precisely with the glulam beam structure inside to give a consistent look and included vertical sides with electric opening vents to provide adequate ventilation. The team also advised on the loadings required for safe installation of the lighting suspended from the roof.

The 7676mm x 7676mm rooflight is finished in Yellow Grey (RAL7034), a standard Whitesales colour, and matches with the triple glazed aluminium windows installed at the library entrance.

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For Harris Bros & Collard, Whitesales’ technical knowledge and experience and fast and clear communication throughout the design stages gave them the reassurance they needed to award such a major, high-profile project to a company they had only previously only placed small orders with.

Contracts Manager, Brian Neale, said the way that Whitesales quoted and responded to queries was impressive: “We always had confidence in the quality of the Whitesales product offering but what impressed us just as much was a real understanding of the design intent from the outside and the responsiveness to queries throughout.”

Karl Granfield, Whitesales’ Senior Contracts Manager, added that the library rooflight was typical of the kind of bespoke rooflights Whitesales can supply and install, based around its em.glaze fully welded thermally broken aluminium frame. He said: “A 30 degree slope is standard on our rooflights, but as we’ve shown here, we can go as low as 10 degrees in our custom-made options and span up to 6m.”

Following the £850,000 refurbishment, Minehead Library has become Somerset County Council’s first decarbonised library building. Alongside the new rooflight in the extension, the roof of the original 60-year-old building has been replaced and number of energy efficient measures have been installed including an air source heat pump, solar panels and underfloor heating, and improved thermal insulation.

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