Passers-by the National Library of Australia may have noticed the bright orange temporary sheeting installed on the building since mid-last year, the end result of the January 2020 hailstorm which caused significant damage to the Library’s existing 60-year old copper roof system.
The Manteena team is back to undertake two major upgrade projects at the National Library of Australia: with works progressing internally with alterations, refurbishments and upgrades to the existing HVAC systems across all eight floors of the Library; and externally, works commenced on-site last week to restore the damaged cooper roof (with many large hail dents clearly visible across the entire NLA roof, some holes several centimetres in diameter). The grates on top of the roof were also severely damaged by the hail. Quick action by Library staff meant that the Library’s collection was not impacted by this damage.
The works, which will be staged to limit disruption to the Library’s operations and visitor experience, will also provide the opportunity to remove insulation materials enclosed in roof spaces on the underside of the sheeting.
The HVAC program requires the demolition and removal of a number of items of HVAC plant and equipment and provide the supply, installation and commissioning of new HVAC systems.
Works are expected to run progressively over the next few years with several staged handovers planned along the way.
