Case study

Sika® Watertight Concrete was chosen to ensure a dry basement for the stunning new BDP (Building Design Partnership) Studios, situated at 11 Ducie Street on the Piccadilly Basin in Manchester. Built right on the waters edge, it was a requirement that the basement should conform to BS 8102 Grade 4, giving a controlled environment capable of storing archives, sensitive materials or for computer rooms.

In order to achieve this, Sika® Watertight Concrete was chosen for the basement areas. It has a successful track record going back over 50 years.

Sika® 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 Sika Watertight Concrete for the construction of the basement.

BBA approved Sika® 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 Sika® Watertight Concrete because “the product was technically well developed and 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 BDP to have an effective waterproof barrier adjacent to the Rochdale Canal.”

11 Ducie Street is home to 250 of BDP’s Manchester based staff. It comprises 2,500 square metres of open plan office space with a further 400 square metres of ancillary areas, including meeting rooms, exhibition space, café and reception area.

This award winning building was designed by BDP’s architects and engineers, with a strong emphasis on functional, aesthetic and environmental considerations. It has achieved an excellent BREEAM rating and is certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Neutral Company.

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