Distillery roof specification

A ‘revolutionary’ roof on a new £140 million distillery and visitor experience centre in Scotland has been sealed using foam tape from ISO-Chemie.

The Macallan Distillery, built by Robertson Construction on the Easter Elchies estate in Speyside, has seen ISO-Bloco T-Max installed to accommodate differential movement of up to 80mm between dozens of the roof’s timber cassette sections.

More than 5,000m of tape has been supplied for the 12,000m2 double-curved roof, which features more than 380,000 individual components and five mounds to accommodate the distillery’s five production cells.

One of the largest wildflower roofs in Europe, the structure is also among the most complicated of its type in the world, with each junction and beam featuring a specific name. It has been tested in more than 160 different load conditions, while the Swiss Alpine Design code has been used to understand the effects of wind, snow and ice on the design.

T-Max can effectively seal larger joints ranging in width from 14mm to 50mm, providing thermal and acoustic benefits. It can also accommodate a temperature range of -30° to +90° while remaining impermeable to driving rain with a minimum of 450 Pa.

Once installed, timber framed buildings are better protected from elemental factors like wind, dust and moisture ingress by accommodating the changes in structural movement caused by environmental, cyclical and settlement factors. The product should remain permanently flexible throughout its life expectancy of at least 25 years.

Developed by international premium spirits company Edrington, the distillery’s been designed by architects Rogers Stirk + Partners, which was selected to lead the project after an international competition.

Nicholas Thompson, ISO-Chemie’s UK technical adviser, said: “For our tape to be specified for this revolutionary structure not only reinforces its strong environmental credentials, but also reflects its strong all-round airtightness, acoustic and thermal qualities.”