Monday 23rd January 2012 • 02:38pm • By
Samuel H Diamond
The winter months may have been uncommonly mild so far, but that hasn’t meant that the new year hasn’t brought a large number of weather-related jobs to Maxiflow!
Our partnership with Chester Zoo has been strengthened by a number of reactive, maintenance and improvement works we have carried out across the site since the start of 2012.
Did you know that you can find a mini-golf course at Chester Zoo? The 9-hole course is designed to teach children about the importance of wildlife conservation while they play.
Maxiflow were contacted to take part in a conservation project of our own – helping the zoo to reduce its carbon footprint.
The little mini-golf kiosk serves customers with their tickets and refreshments year-round, so heating the outbuilding efficiently during the winter months is important to the zoo.
We replaced the outdated felt shingles on the roof with steel cladding and improved the kiosk’s thermal insulation. These improvements should help keep the heat in and the energy costs down.
Meanwhile, at the Islands In Danger exhibit, the cold weather was exerting itself in a far more direct and dangerous fashion.
Islands In Danger houses exotic and endangered animals such as the Komodo Dragon and Red Birds of Paradise, species which aren’t terribly tolerant of the temperatures of a Great British Winter.
So when a spate of frost damaged the plaster fronting the building, it was imperative that the cracks were not allowed to grow and threaten the controlled climate inside the building.
Our re-rendering efforts patched the wall successfully, helping to maintain the security of some members of the planet’s most threatened species.
Finally, over at the monkey house, the barrier between man and beast was looking decidedly shaky as we investigated the building’s surrounding wall.
The recent high winds that have assaulted the North-West of England had caused the parapet’s coping stones to detach, threatening the integrity of the enclosure.
During our repairs, the primates had to be kept inside for the safety of everyone involved. We didn’t manage to interview any of our furry cousins, but they looked like they were getting pretty jealous that we were getting to climb all over their walls while they were stuck indoors!
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