As part of their ongoing relationship with the Imperial College London, Newton Specialist Contractor A.P. Gooch was tasked with assessing and waterproofing 11 historic Victorian brick vaults beneath the streets of Kensington, London, after the existing competitor ‘waterproof render’ had failed.
Imperial College London is a world top ten university, and it’s top-class educational facilities in Central London are constantly used by multidisciplinary students, including doctors and nurses, for their studies. It was therefore crucial for A.P. Gooch to perform the work whilst also creating minimum disruption to the college students.
The competitor waterproof render applied internally to the vaults had failed and was allowing multiple leaks
The experienced installers at AP Gooch were able to fit the drainage membranes with minimal disruption
Timber battens fixed into the heads of the MultiPlugs allowed plasterboard to be applied directly over
The Solution
Following a full assessment of the vaults, A.P. Gooch decided that the best option was to install the tried and tested ‘failsafe’ Newton System 500 cavity drainage membrane solution in order to depressurise, capture and safely manage ingressing water away from the building. A.P. Gooch also committed to carrying out the entire installation at night in order to cause as little disruption as possible to the College’s students.
By installing Newton 508 membrane with strategically placed Newton MultiPlug fixings, the system remained sympathetic to the historic structure beneath. Newton Basedrain was also installed in order to channel captured water to one of four Newton Titan-2 sump chambers, the compact size of which made them ideal for use in a structure with such tight size restrictions. Each chamber also contained primary and backup Newton CP400 pumps to ensure that there will always be a safe means of removing captured water from the building.
“Imperial College London Business School truly is a magnificent landmark building in this area of the capital, and one of the most important scientific and research buildilings both in the UK and the rest of the world.
It was an honour for A.P. Gooch Basement Waterproofing to be assigned the project, and also the responsibility of creating a dry, functional space in which the students of Imperial College can study, develop and learn.”
Anthony Gooch, Director, A.P. Gooch Basement Waterproofing
Four Titan-2 sump chambers, each with dual CP pumps provided plenty of drainage for the system
The result was a dry, safe and pleasant study space for the many students using the building
Imperial College London’s facilities combine brick-built Victorian structures with modern new developments
The Result
Now fully protected by a maintainable system, compliant with waterproofing code of practice BS 8102:2009, all 11 vaults are now completely dry, providing safe and healthy individual study rooms for the medical students at Imperial College.
