Roof emergency?
Call 01388 335 061 — same-day response, County Durham & the Northeast
01388 335 061·Inkerman, Tow Law · DL13 4HG·Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00
CHAS Advanced · NFRC · Reset ComplianceThe brief.
The O2 Institute Digbeth is a prominent live music venue in central Birmingham with an architecturally distinctive cupola at high level. The client needed the cupola restored as a single specialist commission rather than a routine roof repair.
Evenii was engaged on the basis of its specialist restoration record across heritage, theatre and live-environment buildings. The works sat well outside Evenii's core Northeast geography; the contract was accepted as a one-off specialist commission, programmed from the County Durham base and delivered without sub-letting.
The scope covered newly manufactured purpose-made timbers, new scrolls, a new pinnacle, a Triflex liquid-applied coating system with manufacturer guarantees, lead cover flashings, lead details to the scrolls and copper wind restraint straps.
02 — Roof condition and decisionExisting condition and the restoration decision.
The cupola showed the typical pattern of a high-level, fully exposed structure on an inner-city building: weathered timber elements, tired lead details and a waterproofing line that no longer offered the long-term defence the venue needed.
Patch repair was not the right answer. The client and Evenii agreed a full restoration approach — strip back, replace the timber elements that could not be retained, re-detail the leadwork to current standards and protect the whole assembly with a guaranteed Triflex liquid-applied coating system. That gives the venue a single, warranted waterproofing line across the most exposed element of the building.
Copper wind restraint straps were specified to tie the restored cupola back to the structure properly — a heritage-appropriate detail that recognises the wind loads a tall, ornamental Birmingham roof element actually sees.
03 — SpecificationSpecification and materials.
Purpose-made timber elements were manufactured to match the existing profile, with new scrolls and a new pinnacle produced to the agreed detail. Timber was selected and installed to give the restored cupola the same architectural read as the original.
Leadwork was detailed to current Lead Sheet Association practice — lead cover flashings to the main junctions and lead details to the scrolls, sized and fixed for the exposure. Copper wind restraint straps were installed to tie the restored elements back into the structural fabric.
The Triflex liquid-applied coating system was specified for the waterproofing line. Triflex is well suited to complex shapes, awkward junctions and refurbishment works where a sheet membrane cannot follow the geometry. The system was installed under manufacturer guarantee.
04 — Site delivery around a live venueSite delivery around a live music venue.
A working live music venue does not stop trading for a roof programme. Access, materials handling, deliveries and high-level working all had to be sequenced around the venue's show schedule and the surrounding Digbeth streetscape.
Evenii planned the works around fixed constraints: high-level access to the cupola, safe movement of purpose-made timber, lead and coating materials, weather exposure on an exposed inner-city roof, temporary protection during the strip-back and re-cover, and clear coordination with venue operations so the building could continue trading where the programme allowed.
The team travelled from County Durham for the duration of the programme. That is not Evenii's routine model, but for a specialist commission of this nature it was the right one — a single Evenii-led team on site, with no sub-letting of the specialist trades.
05 — OutcomeOutcome.
The cupola was handed back restored: purpose-made timber renewed, new scrolls and pinnacle in place, leadwork detailed to current standards, copper wind restraints fixed and the whole assembly protected by a guaranteed Triflex liquid-applied coating system.
The venue now has a warranted waterproofing line across its most exposed and most visible roof element, and a restored architectural detail that reads correctly from street level.
For procurement teams considering Evenii for a specialist commission outside the Northeast, this project is a useful reference point: a real completed restoration on a live, prominent, architecturally distinctive building, delivered as a one-off programme from the County Durham base.
