United Kingdom

Billed as Britain's premier indoor snow sports destination, "The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead" - which opens in April 2009 - has a 140 metre long, 30 metre wide main slope, and an additional 75 metre long slope for lessons. 

Visitors to such attractions want the experience of 'real' snow - and the Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre is no exception, meaning specific insulation demands.

McVeigh Insulations was tasked with insulating the project - effectively a giant cold store - after proving its expertise in indoor ski-slope insulation on projects such as several Xscape installations and The Chill Factor^e in Manchester.

Main contractor on the project is Sir Robert McAlpine, who also constructed Xscape in Milton Keynes and The Chill Factor^e.

McVeigh chose loose STYROFOAM™ SP-X insulation boards incorporating timber grounds, with a profile metal top surface layer for the project. The 75mm thick extruded polystyrene foam boards are fixed in two layers deep on the ski slopes, making a total insulation thickness of 150mm.

The product is traditionally used for industrial floors such as cold stores, where its combination of low weight, high strength and resistance to deformation has made it the material of choice for over 30 years.  However, the moisture resistant properties of STYROFOAM mean it can also cope well with a surface covering of snow! 

Overall, Dow Building Solutions supplied 7,000 m² of STYROFOAM SP-X to McVeigh through distributor Sheffield Insulations.

"STYROFOAM is an excellent solution because it can cope with the tough thermal insulation demands of a busy indoor ski slope - and with a covering of snow," said Jim McVeigh of McVeigh Insulations.  "It's also very lightweight and easy for the installers to work with, even on a steep slope."