Broadlands Business Campus, Horsham, West Sussex

Challenge  

This two-storey office in West Sussex (home to the Born Free Foundation) features an inner courtyard of approximately 300m² serving as an outdoor recreation area for staff. MPS Concrete Solutions, as part of DB Group were tasked with creating a waterproof podium deck allowing for rainwater run-off, waterproofing the underneath for landscaping and planters, as well as safeguarding the work offices located directly beneath this area.

The challenge was the location and the hot weather. Access to the work site was constrained via a narrow reception area, and the MPS team would have to work in heat of 30 plus degrees centigrade with a resin-based substance that tends to go off quickly.                        

Solution

MPS were approached by contractors LDD Construction to tackle the specialist installation on the podium deck which would form the primary waterproofing protection for this area. As resin is temperature sensitive, getting the PUDLO PremDeck application right all within a narrow time frame would prove crucial to the project’s overall success.

Says Alex Garnham of LDD, “We have used PUDLO on several projects and have found they give the same rapid response and high level of commitment to each job, large or small.”

Primer was roller-applied across the slab on clean concrete and the surrounding brickwork on a tapered rise around the sides of the deck which included working around pipes and other detail elements. It was important to achieve a glass-like finish before applying the PUDLO PremDeck above this layer.

PUDLO’s PremDeck is typically applied in two layers. The first is a resin combined with a fibre mat with another layer of resin applied on top. Then comes the finishing topcoat which dries hard but allows some flexibility due to the fibres.

PUDLO PremDeck can be used on green roofs, podium decks, swimming pools, suspended slabs, terraces and balconies wherever waterproofing is required. It is also suitable for both refurbishment and new build applications. PremDeck is BBA approved, has a durable finish, is suited to any size of project, and is weather resistant and quick drying. It is a resin that goes off quickly, especially at high temperatures. It’s therefore crucial that when working to the limits of its temperature range that installers are fully trained and skilled in its application. MPS operatives are thoroughly trained in this respect and proved they could meet the challenge.

Result

After a two-week full drying period, followed by a leak check that was independently carried out, MPS were satisfied the landscapers could move in to complete their planting scheme. Finally, a beautiful steel sculpture was reinstated to finish off the look.