Pasquill Engineers complex roof truss solution for Scottish school

Pasquill, the largest supplier of trussed rafters in the UK, has completed the design, manufacture and delivery of a complex hip-ended roof at a school in Fife where extremely restricted site access has meant meeting elaborate logistical requirements.

St Leonards school at St Andrews is in the final phase of seeing a major development of its junior section in the form of a £2.5 million new build project, which will result in enhanced facilities for the school’s 530 pupils when completed. The new development will provide the school with a number of new classrooms, as well as a new hall, a reception area, offices and activity areas, in addition to new lavatories and cloakrooms. The single storey structure will be rendered and its roof clad in zinc. 

Pasquill worked very closely throughout the roof design process with the project’s timber frame kit provider, Fleming Buildings, and the architects on behalf of main contractor, CBC. Providing considerable technical input over several design changes, Pasquill helped to engineer a cost-effective interpretation of the architects’ requirements. The result is a complicated vaulted roof configuration featuring modified scissor and vaulted hips of varying complexity with raised ties also included.  The roof over the development’s gym hall was formed using a complex three part truss configuration.  The design solution for this section of the project was one of the main factors contributing to Pasquill having won the contract.

Forming the only access point to the site for all building materials and equipment is an archway built into what were once the walls of a medieval abbey. This feature may be historically interesting and visually appealing, but it presented Pasquill with quite a challenge, thanks to its height and width restrictions. The decision was taken to survey the site carefully, before working out the logistics of an efficient delivery and off-loading system. This meant unloading roof trusses off-site before carrying them by hand through the archway and onto the site.

Roof and attic trusses are now the most widely used form of framing in the UK. Not only ideal for simple roof structures, they are the perfect solution for transforming architectural visions into working roof structures. Pasquill offers a full in-house, computerised roof truss design, manufacture and national UK delivery service.