Experienced contractor Aldeck Roofing has just completed work on several buildings included in the redevelopment of one of Victoria's most loved and popular icons.

Roof and wall cladding in five LYSAGHT® profiles is a feature of the newly redeveloped Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.

The redevelopment involved a consortium of financier Babcock and Brown, Multiplex Constructions, Multiplex Facilities Management, Spotless Services and Daryl Jackson Architects.

Victoria's State Government provided A$101 million under a joint venture with the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RAS) for the project.

Work involved heritage restoration of old buildings including the Clydesdale Pavilion, Horticultural Hall and the Public Grandstand, as well as the construction of several new buildings.

Aldeck Roofing has previously worked on major Melbourne projects including the Telstra Dome, Vodafone Arena and the Synchrotron building.

At the Ascot Vale Showgrounds site the company's roofers found themselves working on large and small projects at the same time.

"We were on site for over a year," company director Anton Buenemann said. "It was one of those projects where everyone who took part was happy to be involved.

"The Royal Melbourne Showgrounds hold special memories for many Melbourne people and the redevelopment will ensure that they go on providing memories for many more years."

The redeveloped site's new buildings, including an administrative block for the RAS, blend with existing infrastructure to create an adaptable venue for the Show and other events throughout the year.

All roof and wall cladding for the project was supplied by BlueScope Lysaght. For some re-roofing tasks the amount required could only be determined by climbing onto the structures and evaluating the condition of the existing sheets.

"Some of the buildings are approximately a century old," Anton Buenemann said. "It's hard to know how old the roof sheeting would be, but a lot of it was in remarkably good condition.

"In several places it was just a matter of replacing a couple of rows with new LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB® sheeting. We also had to replace bull-nosed sections of roofing, using LYSAGHT CUSTOM BLUE ORB® sheets which were curved for us by a specialist contractor.

"The LYSAGHT CUSTOM BLUE ORB® sheets were 0.6mm thickness, but the consistency of the curving which could be achieved with them was exceptional – which it had to be, because of their prominence on the building."

Anton Buenemann said the project was a logistical challenge, because of the number and variety of buildings involved, the length of time the Aldeck Roofing crew of up to 30 was on site and the variety of cladding profiles specified.

"We were dealing with a range of LYSAGHT® profiles, including LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB®, LYSAGHT CUSTOM BLUE ORB®, LYSAGHT SPANDEK®, LYSAGHT MULTICLAD®, LYSAGHT LONGLINE 305®, and LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700® HI STRENGTH," he said.

"In that mix we also had some roofs specified in ZINCALUME® steel and others specified in various colours of COLORBOND® steel. There were multiple colours in the COLORBOND® steel and even more than one thickness in the same profile."

With building activity and roof cladding going on at multiple sites throughout the 27 hectare complex it was essential that deliveries of LYSAGHT® cladding went exactly according to the plan worked out with Aldeck Roofing.

"There were a lot of things which could have gone wrong with the deliveries, but to the credit of BlueScope Lysaght we didn't have a problem," Anton Buenemann said.

"Some of the sheets delivered were over 20 metres long and required special transport arrangements to get them to where they were needed. BlueScope Lysaght showed their efficiency by making it all happen exactly according to plan."

"We used LYSAGHT SPANDEK® to clad the largest building on the site. It gave us the flexibility to lay roof sheets so that they were aligned with skylights which had been pre-positioned as part of the steel framework erection."

LYSAGHT SPANDEK® is a contemporary-looking, trapezoidal profile which is ideal where a stronger, bolder, more modern appearance is required. It combines strength with lightness, impact resistance, rigidity and economy.

Aldeck Roofing used LONGLINE 305® in ZINCALUME® steel as wall cladding on the new administration block for the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria

LYSAGHT LONGLINE 305® profile is a strong and durable, concealed fixed cladding suitable for roofs and walls.

"It is not a new profile by any means, but the result the architect has achieved shows that it can have a dramatic impact in the right setting," Anton Buenemann said.