Snow-starved skiers rely on STYROFOAM
Skiers having to put a holiday in the Alps on hold due to the credit crunch will be able to look closer to home for fun on the slopes thanks to STYROFOAM from Dow Building Solutions!
Staines, 13 February 2009
7,000 m2 of STYROFOAM SP-X is providing the insulation for the latest 'real snow' indoor ski slope in Hemel Hempstead, following previous successes with the material at the Xscape 'Sno!zone' in Milton Keynes and the completion of the Chill Factore ski centre in Manchester.
"STYROFOAM has traditionally been used in industrial floors, such as cold store floors, where its combination of low weight, high strength and resistance to deformation has made it the material of choice in such environments for over 30 years," explained Alex Crisp, account manager for Dow Building Solutions.
"Indoor ski slopes are effectively giant cold-storage units - but with the added complication of some rather serious looking slopes! Thankfully, the moisture resistant properties of STYROFOAM mean it can cope well with a surface covering of snow, and over the years we've supported our customers in the development of innovative ways of installing the product in such unusual environments."
Billed as Britain's premier indoor snow sports destination, "The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead" is due to open in April 2009, with a 140 metre long, 30 metre wide main slope, and an additional 75 metre long slope for lessons - both will be covered in real snow thanks to the insulating properties of STYROFOAM. The 75mm thick blue extruded polystyrene foam boards - which are more commonly used to insulate floors in commercial buildings - are fixed in two layers deep on the ski slopes, making a total insulation thickness of 150mm.
Dow Building Solutions supplied the material to Cheshire-based McVeigh Insulations through distributor Sheffield Insulations. McVeigh has lengthy experience in the food industry, but is fast becoming an expert in indoor ski-slope insulation after working on projects such as several Xscape installations and The Chill Factore.
"Having worked with STYROFOAM on such unusual structures before we were well aware of what the challenges would be before we started, and have developed a range of excellent working solutions for the fact we need to work on a steep slope," explained Jim McVeigh of McVeigh Insulations.
"For this project we used loose STYROFOAM SP-X insulation boards incorporating timber grounds, with a profile metal top surface layer," he continued. "STYROFOAM is an excellent solution because it can not only cope with the tough thermal insulation demands of a busy indoor ski slope - and with a covering of snow - it's also very lightweight and easy for the installers to work with."
Main contractor on The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead is Sir Robert McAlpine, who also constructed Xscape in Milton Keynes and Chill Factore in Manchester.
STYROFOAM SP-X, was specifically designed for medium load bearing floors. It has a nominal compressive strength of 350 kN/m2 and a design load (the load which will give maximum compression of 2% over 50 years) of 120 kN/m2. The material is available in two thicknesses, 50mm and 75mm.
Dow Building Solutions offers floor insulation products for buildings ranging from residential right the way through to highly loaded cold stores and even very highly loaded floors such as aircraft hangars. For more details on stockists of STYROFOAM SP-X and other insulation products, contact Dow Building Solutions on 020 3139 4190 or visit www.styrofoam.co.uk.
Notes to editors:
Dow Building Solutions, a division of The Dow Chemical Company, is dedicated to supplying the construction industry with innovative and effective solutions. The product range includes STYROFOAM blue extruded foamed polystyrene insulation, GREAT-STUFF™ polyurethane foam sealant, FROTH-PAK™ polyurethane foam spray systems, INSTA-STIK™ polyurethane adhesives and a range of accessories.
For media information contact:
Kirsten@kdpr.co.uk
01295 780152
Customer contact:
Dow Building Solutions
Diamond House, Lotus Park,
Kingsbury Crescent, Staines,
Middlesex, TW18 3AG
Tel.: 020 3139 4190
Fax: 020 3139 4013
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