Zoontjens, A CRH Company, required more heavy-duty equipment than handbags to balance this technical and aesthetic challenge. It solved the need for rooftop terraces required to withstand the weight of maintenance vehicles while maintaining the appeal of natural stone.
The challenge
The finish of the five rooftop terraces, with a total surface area of more than 1,400 m2, was an unprecedented technical challenge. The original choice was natural stone slab on slab supports that complied with the normal standards and requirements for any construction project. The selected slab also met the aesthetic requirements, but proved unsuitable as a durable protection for the underlying roof covering structure. In addition, the slab floor had to be strong enough to withstand a load of 20 kN per slab, because of the movements and the support arms of the caterpillar vehicles.
The solution
Because natural stone on its own is not strong enough to support the static and dynamic forces of the reach systems, Zoontjens proposed an alternative solution: concrete slabs with a natural stone top layer glued to the concrete, installed on specially produced DNS® Heavy. The slabs are large in size – measuring 900 mm x 500 mm and with a thickness of between 130 mm and 170 mm, depending on the individual rooftop terrace.
