Hanson Concrete supplied Hanson watertight concrete during the construction of the stunning new BDP (Building Design Partnership) Studios in Manchester, in order to ensure a dry basement that conforms to BS 8102 Grade 4. Situated right on the waters edge at 11 Ducie Street, on the Piccadilly Basin, it was essential that the basement should have a controlled environment capable of storing archives, sensitive materials or for computer rooms.
In order to achieve this, Hanson watertight concrete incorporating Sika® admixtures was chosen for these basement areas. Hanson watertight concrete is a high performance, cost effective solution in comparison to membranes and other systems. Time is saved at both the design and construction stages as the need for complex detailing and installation is eliminated. It also delivers the maximum usable area to the developer.
The studio building was constructed by Kier North West for BDP as part of the £250 million Town Centre Securities city centre mixed-use scheme.
Before building work could be started on the project, a sealed sheet piled cofferdam was put in place by Adana Construction to create a dry dock. Hanson Concrete then supplied watertight concrete for the construction of the basement.
Hanson watertight concrete works by including Sika®Viscocrete®, a powerful superplasticiser to reduce the water content, and in turn reduce the capillary pores within the matrix, and Sika® 1+ pore blocker to block the remaining pores.
Construction joints and other details were sealed using products from Sika®’s range of jointing solutions. These range from basic hydrophilic strips to injectable hydrophilic profiles.
BDP chose Hanson watertight concrete because “the product was technically well developed and Hanson Concrete in partnership with Sika® offered support during site operations, in addition to an effective warranty on the achievement of the watertight construction. The basement of our studios houses the IT servers which support all of BDP’s UK offices, therefore it was essential to have an effective waterproof barrier adjacent to the Rochdale Canal.”
