Library of Birmingham

The library, which has a BREEAM Excellent rating, covers an area of 32,000 m², houses over one million books in both an adult and children’s library, has more than 200 public access computers, a music room, theaters, cafe and an exhibition gallery. Its most valuable books are copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio and John James Audubon‘s Birds of America - worth between £6 million and £7 million each.

A cost-effective and guaranteed watertight solution was required for the concrete basement and terraces.

The Sika® Watertight Concrete System was specified for both the basement and terraces. The system complies with BS 8103:2009 Grade 3 for habitable areas where no water penetration is acceptable, an essential consideration for the basement area. On the terraces, Sika® Watertight Concrete was chosen as a secondary defense should the waterproof decking above become damaged and allow water to penetrate. Bardon Concrete supplied 1,000 m³ of Sika® Watertight Concrete to the project.

The guaranteed Sika® Watertight Concrete System offers a comprehensive solution in the waterproofing of concrete structures. State-of-the-art Sika admixtures are added to the concrete to prevent water penetration. The system is completed with carefully selected waterstops for construction and movement joints to produce a waterproof structure.

 Sika® Watertight Concrete System