As part of the development of a new duty-free warehouse and in-flight store for Qatar Duty Free and Qatar Airways respectively, Jones and Woolman UK undertook a series of weatherproofing works across the warehouse facilities’ roofing areas.
Headed up by Zublin International, the Doha International Airport project incorporated the development of warehousing space to cater for a total of 24 million passengers, but to also allow the capacity to grow up to 48 million in line with future projections. To deliver upon this demanding requirement, Zublin developed 11,250m2 of warehousing space, consisting of structural steel-framed structures on in-situ foundations, and with steel composite mezzanine floors and proprietary roofing and cladding systems. Zublin, together with Kingspan, decided upon Jones and Woolman UK as the ideal specialist for handling a series of works across the latter segments of the project.
Jones and Woolman UK worked closely with Zublin to deliver works across the roofing elements of the project, incorporating 30 steelwork extensions forming feature umbrellas on top of the duty-free warehouse. A series of steel penetrations (six per umbrella), 40 skylights, glazing units, and smoke vents across the roofing areas formed the complete project. In addition to this, Jones and Woolman UK also provided its leading weatherproofing services to ensure that the space would remain resistant to the weather for years to come.
Delivering weatherproofing solutions in extreme weather conditions
In contrast to many of their high-profile projects such as at the Etihad Stadium, where early involvement is a common component, the Doha International Airport project demanded a level of reactiveness and adaptability that few other organisations could offer. Jones and Woolman UK were contacted to perform essential works at the site in Qatar on as little as five weeks’ notice, with the challenging requirement of performing heat-sensitive services in a reputedly hot climate. To add to this challenge, additional factors such as regulations around working outside during peak times needed careful consideration and planning to ensure strict deadlines were adhered to.
As an organisation which is always keen to overcome any challenge, a working system was devised for the project whereby works could be safely completed outside of peak times (typically at nights), with temperature controlled storage for products and additional safety measures implemented to ensure the safe completion of works. Key factors for these measures included minimising the amount of time spent working at height, tackling the emerging issue of damp during the cooler hours of the day, and ensuring a well-lit working environment.
Neil Boylan, contracts director at Jones and Woolman UK, who led the project explained: “All of our products are based on heat. It’s the curing process, and so even on a very hot day in the UK the products will cure quickly. In Qatar we were working in conditions in excess of 40 degrees, which made it very challenging for both the personnel and products. Additionally, because of the laws in Qatar with regard to no works being allowed outside, between the hours of 11am and 3pm during certain periods of the year, we were required to carry out the project mostly at night. It was far cooler of course, but came with additional challenges to overcome such as increased humidity”
He added: “Because it can get very damp at night, again it was challenging to ensure the roof remained dry during installation. We utilised a fan system to maintain air movement, which gave us a draft large enough to stop the dew forming.”
Jones and Woolman UK is known for providing very robust and long-lasting solutions, and the services provided for the Doha International Airport project were provided with a 25 year warranty even under Qatar’s extreme weather conditions, to ensure that the end-client could have a resilient solution that they could trust in.
To learn more about how Jones and Woolman UK can provide resilient and reliable solutions in the most challenging of environments, get in touch to discuss further.
