Reinforcing its excellent reputation throughout the Gulf and beyond, Stirling Lloyd's Integritank waterproofing membrane has been used to protect a new commercial development at the luxurious neighbourhood of Al Zeina, the 'strategic gateway' to the Al Raha Beach Development in Abu Dhabi.
The Al Zeina district, which consists of seven precincts, is a community-focused, mixed-use development that comprises luxury residential accommodation alongside boat moorings, retail outlets and waterside cafes and restaurants. The residential properties include apartments, and penthouses built to various heights to maximise the impressive seafront views, and a range of town houses and villas, some with private courtyards, recreation pools and gardens, others that open out directly onto the 500m long private beach.
The extensive detailing throughout the site's podium deck, including an intricate array of planters, pods, water features, upstands and steps, created their own waterproofing issues; the fact that these areas are located directly over car parks and the high value residential properties themselves, compounded the application challenge.
A trusted and 100% effective waterproofing system was required and consultant engineer, Pell Frischmann specified the use of Integritank throughout the developments podium decks. Stirling Lloyd's methyl methacrylate (MMA) resin based structural waterproofing membrane offered simple, airless, spray liquid application which enabled these areas to be quickly, effectively and seamlessly protected with no vulnerable seams.
The initial contract involved some 80,000m² of Integritank. Prior to the application of the waterproofing system, the substrate was prepared and tensile adhesion tests undertaken. These confirmed that the Integritank system would easily achieve the required bond strength to the substrate of 0.3MPa, with the system giving bond strengths in excess of 1MPa. These strong bonds are important if a waterproofing system is to provide a long, effective service life and prevents any water ingress tracking below the membrane.
The substrate was then primed and the Integritank spray applied in two coats of contrasting yellow and grey colours to provide a visual on-site quality control method regarding membrane thickness, with wet film thickness tests carried out throughout the application to verify that the required minimum thickness of 1mm per coat was being applied.
Each coat always cured in under an hour, aiding contract progression. Once the membrane's second coat had cured the system was electrically tested to confirm its integrity. At this stage a full inspection was undertaken with all areas being further tested to verify the extensive detailing was watertight.
Despite the potential problems that could be created by Abu Dhabi's highly aggressive climate there could be no risk of water ingress or surface corrosion on such a luxurious, high specification development as Al Zeina. Fortunately the selection of Stirling Lloyd's Integritank membrane ensured that the client, Aldar, the main contractors, Laing O'Rourke and the scheme's residents could all be confident they had an effective structural waterproofing system that would last for many years to come.
The quality of the product and its performance on site so impressed that the system was subsequently chosen to waterproof some 19,000m² of balconies and roofs and keep watertight almost 18,000m² of swimming pools throughout the development, contracts that have recently been concluded to all parties’ satisfaction.
