BalcoDeck® Leighton Buzzard

Case Study: Non-Penetrative Roof Decking & Balustrade Installation

Site Location: Leighton Buzzard

The project was for a New Build property in the market town of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. The building was easily accessible for logistics planning. 

Customer & Brief

The end customer was the homeowner, however the project was designed and managed by Mathew Collins of Volumetrics. The property was a New Build annexe adjacent to the homeowners' existing house. The Balcony area was on the first floor just outside the home gym.

The Balcony area and terrace were above habitable rooms below and the entire roof/balcony area was being waterproofed. The brief was to install a balutrade that did not penetrate the roof in any way. 

How the Customer Found Us:

Mathew already knew, and had worked, with Balconette previouly, he learned about BalcoDeck® through browing the Balconette website. It immediatly made sense to learn more about this as it seemed to solve the issue of installing over the waterproofing.

Project Background:

The annexe was designed and went into planning in the spring of 2024. The design origianlly showed a traditional balustrade solution and as Mathew explains "There existed a challenge of implementing a traditional balustrade system especially the coordination of all the different elements to create a warrantable design that suited the manufacturers Bauder's requirements."

Picture Gallery: BalcoDeck Leighton Buzzard - Picture Gallery

 

What We Were Asked to Achieve:

• Supply and install a non-penetrative Balustrade onto the waterproof balcony/roof.
• Avoid any penetration of the Bauder waterproof roof membrane.
• Provide a clean, modern aesthetic suitable for a high-end private home of this caliber.
• Not to adhere or glue anything to the Bauder memebrane.

How did the BalcoDeck® solution meet the needs?

The roof was finished and waterproofed using the Bauder solution, meaning the entire system had to be entirely non-penetrative. But not only that, Bauder insisted that no part of the system is adhered to the membrane. This presented an additional challenge of how to resist sliding and wind loading on the structure.

Balconette and Volumentrics worked closely on this and created a solution of small upstand ridges the could be waterproofed as part of the Bauder memebrane installation, but allowed the BalcoDeck® aluminium substructure to abut to it. Windload calculation were done and the exact details were worked out.*

This made the BalcoDeck® aluminium substructure the ideal solution, allowing installation without drilling into the roof surface or parapet.

The balustrade ran around the balcony area. The handrail could not be fixed to the walls/glass doors and the BalcoDeck® ended on sleek end posts behnd the glass..

Waterproofed upstands to abut deck frame

Waterproofed upstands to abut deck frame

Why did you choose BalcoDeck®

We asked Mathew why they chose the BalcoDeck® over other options.

"We decided in favour of this solution due to a unique system that made life easier and was ultimately cheaper. The cost of the traditional system was higher due to expensive component parts needed - specifically on this one the Nikolson fixing points. It also reduced coordination issues and limited points of failure, i.e. the roofing membrane"

Balustrade Specification

Material:

• Balconette’s Hybrid® Aerofoil glass balustrade with minimal posts, finished is Royal Chrome Anodised.
• 10mm Clear toughened safety glass.

Decking Material Choice

Selected System:

• BalcoDeck® aluminium decking boards finished in texured RAL 7016 anthracite grey.
• Fire-rated, durable, lightweight, and ideal for roof terrace applications
• Installed on the BalcoDeck® non-penetrative aluminium substructure

Overall Size

• Approx. 6.5 metres long x 3 metres deep
• Total balustrade run: approximately 13.5 metres

Site Access & Lifting of Goods

• A HIAB crane was used to lift materials directly to the roof/loading bay
• The project was on the first floor, use of a standard-sized HIAB made the lifting of the goods to the balcony easy and light work.

Preparatory Works & Site Setup

• Initial site survey and measurements carried out following instruction
• Detailed assessment of:
  • Parapet dimensions
  • Wall interfaces
  • Access and lifting strategy
• Decking substructure pre-manufactured in our factory
• Components assembled in sections to allow efficient lifting and rapid installation on site

Application

• Residential roof over habitable spaces for a newly built annexe building.
• Designed for long-term durability, safety, and visual appeal
• Long term leak prevention by design.

Time on Site

• Day 1:
  • Delivery and lifting of materials
  • Assembly of decking substructure
• Day 2:
  • Completion of decking surface
  • Installation of balustrade posts
• Day 3:
  • Installation of glass balustrade
  • Final detailing and site clearance

Total installation time: 3 days

Result

The completed roof terrace delivered a clean, modern, and highly functional outdoor space without compromising the building’s waterproofing or structure with long term leak prevention by design.