The street in the sky – another tough challenge for Proteus Waterproofing

The street in the sky, three storeys high, effectively provides the main entrances and garden areas for the tenants of six homes owned by Calderdale Council, the end client. The street also provides roof cover for a large part of the market mostly occupied by fresh food retailers.

Tenants wishing to access their homes via the street, have to use a discrete stairway off the main adjacent road. This meant limited access for the contracting team who had to use the same stairway to transport materials and equipment.

For the previous 20 years the roof area had been protected by a mastic asphalt coating which had reached the end of its useful life, but core samples showed that the overall integrity of the membrane was still sound and the most cost-effective approach would be the use of Proteus Pro BW LO.

This is a low odour liquid membrane helped ensure that local tenants were not disrupted and the fresh food retailers could continue to trade without the risk of noxious fumes.

To minimise that risk the contractors, RoofClad Systems, Leeds, first waterproofed, as a test project, a small area directly above a butcher’s store, to ensure that no fumes could be detected in the market area. This was successful, allowing the project to proceed.

Once the initial challenges were overcome, the work was completed over a three-week period with minimum disruption to tenants and market traders. The mastic asphalt base was completely overlayed using Proteus Pro BW LO, together with detailed areas such as thresholds.

The project is now backed by a 20-year warranty covering labour and materials and both manufacturer and contactor are looking forward to completing a second phase later in 2023.

The site has a huge history. Halifax Borough Market had once been occupied by a red brick Georgian market place built in 1790 after a nearby slaughterhouse had ended the practice of slaughtering animals in the street. Trade continued to be concentrated here when in 1810 an Act of Parliament had been obtained which forbade street trading in other parts of the town. 

A new market was constructed in 1890, consisting of a 5,850 m² (7,000 square yards) canopy of glass and wrought iron covering the space between ornate four storey stone buildings, topped by baroque turrets, on Southgate and Market Street, and single storey stone shops on the other sides. 

These multi-storey buildings contain living quarters, originally for market traders and managers – and these were the areas – known as the street in the sky that had to be refurbished.

The market operates six days a week with about 125 stalls and won the title of best market by the National Association of British Market Authorities in 2008. The market is Grade II* listed by English Heritage.