Repairs, Refurbishment
And Water Ingress By The Sea
Stuart Hicks, from cold liquid-applied
waterproofing specialist, Kemper System,
discusses how a change of membrane
addressed failing waterproofing at
a luxury residential development in
Saltdean, near Brighton.
Archetech - Page 90
The Grand Ocean Hotel in Saltdean,
near Brighton, epitomises a bygone
era of glamourous seaside elegance.
First opened in 1938, the Grade II listed
building’s crescent-shaped white façade
makes it a classic of Art Deco architectural
design.
Once a popular honeymoon destination
owned by Billy Butlin it is now the central
building from which a development of
luxury apartments takes its name. The
scheme has seen the refurbishment of
the original structure and construction
of four new build blocks designed in
keeping with the former hotel.
Problems with the integrity of the
waterproofing system that was originally
specified for the project became
apparent even before the scheme was
completed, leading to a change of both
roofing contractor and, eventually,
roofing system.
The majority of the problems with
the roofing material were around the
upstands. While repairs using the same
membrane seemed to address the issue
briefly, the same issues recurred following
the repairs.
Inverted Refurbishment
Integrity Issues
Both the existing hotel building and the
new builds have flat roofs and architect,
Rolfe Judd, had specified a liquid
waterproofing membrane. Unfortunately,
the system selected was not robust
enough to adhere seamlessly to the roof
substrate and the assumption was made
that the issue lay with the quality of
installation rather than the suitability of
the membrane. A new roofing contractor,
Cawston Roofing, was brought in to carry
out repairs to the membrane but, as the
existing roof build up was still under
warranty, Cawston Roofing was required
to carry out repairs using the same
product.
Having used Kemper Systems’ Kemperol
membranes on a wide variety of
construction projects in the past,
Cawston Roofing was confident in
recommending Kemperol V210, a cold
liquid-applied waterproofing membrane.
The originally-specified membrane had
been installed beneath the insulation
as an inverted roof build up for the new
apartment blocks. Cawston Roofing
removed the paving slabs and green roof
medium along with the insulation and,
where possible, this was stored for re-use.