Black Hanger Studios
Alton
The Work
Black Hangar Studios is a “one-stop shop” film and television studio, nestled in the Hampshire Countryside. Just 45 minutes from West London and Heathrow Airport, Black Hangar is conveniently located within Lasham Airfield.
Featuring one of UK’s largest uninterrupted stages at 32,000 sq/ft and a permanent green screen, Black Hangar provides full production capability for the latest blockbuster films.
SPECIFICATION = 25MM CLOSED CELL PLUS 150MM OPEN CELL SPF
PROJECT SIZE = 3200 SQUARE METRES OF ROOF AREA
PROJECT DURATION = 12 DAYS IN TOTAL
WARRANTY PERIOD = 25 YEARS FOR INTEGRITY OF THE SPF
The Problem
The studios are located within an ageing airport hangar in a fairly exposed location, subject to wind, rain and noise. The corrugated metal roof and wall sheets are subject to degradation when exposed to weathering and this can cause bolts and fixings to degrade over time. The uninsulated roof and wall sheets increased the potential for sound transmission, making filming difficult in periods of heavy rain and strong winds.
To secure the future of Black Hangar Studios as a viable place for filming, significant renovation works were required. Part of the overall works schedule needed to incorporate an insulation, soundproofing and roof stabilisation system that would future-proof the building. With a jam- packed filming schedule lined up following the Covid-19 pandemic, any proposed solution required a fast and effective installation timeline with minimal downtime for filming.
ThermoFoam were jointly approached to help specify suitable insulation systems for the project and undertake an installation that would fit the timeline for the filming schedule.
The Solution
Traditional insulation materials such as pre-manufactured mineral wool or PIR sheets may be effective insulators in their own right, but they are difficult to install, do not bond to the substrate onto which they are fixed and they can shrink, slip or degrade over time. With longevity, structural integrity, soundproofing, thermal performance and speed of installation at the heart of the Black Hangar project mandate, we were able to identify a robust materials specification. Closed Cell SPF is one of the very best insulation materials to add structural integrity, shore up the fixings and seamless bond to the substrate. We recommended IaNS2U0-L2A5TmEm layer of Closed Cell SPF to the underside of all roof sheets.
With Closed Cell being very expensive and restricted to the volume that can be installed per day, we opted for a hybrid system that incorporated Low Density Open Cell SPF to help beef up the thermal performance whilst helping to reduce sound transmission. Approximately 150mm of Open Cell SPF is the optimum thickness to help reduce the sound transmission, particularly at higher decibel frequency.
