Dirty Martini Cocktail Bar

The 1,800ft2 basement within the South Central Building, a mixed-used commercial site in Manchester city centre, had become susceptible to water ingress due to its 19th century origins. With the above two floors’ imminent conversion to a cocktail bar, the below ground area’s leakage issue was thrown into sharp focus. Contractors Grade 2 Structural Repairs – working on behalf of Bruntwood, the building’s landlords – was selected to install Sika’s three-part system to provide the basement with long-term, watertight protection.

Preparation involved diamond-grinding the walls to remove glazed brickwork, a source of damp and moisture ingress. With the substrate suitably primed, Sika®-1 Pre-Bagged Structural Waterproofing was applied. This exemplary watertight solution ensures specifiers meet the requirements of a project with just one system – and it requires no ongoing maintenance. A pre-bagged render product, the three-part system features a blend of kiln-dried, specially-graded aggregates and cements, as well as a liquid waterproofing admixture. The admixture is mixed into the render and bonds monolithically to the prepared substrate, blocking all gaps and capillaries to provide an impregnable and invisible seal. This process essentially means the system becomes at one with the structure.

In addition, Sikadur®-Combiflex® SG, a high-performance joint-sealing system, was applied to the basement’s wall and floor joints. This high-quality solution allows irregular and high movement in more than one direction, whilst maintaining a high quality seal. Sika-4a Waterstop, a ready-to-use, quick-setting, leak-prevention liquid was also added, providing a waterproof seal on basement wall areas penetrated by exterior pipework.

Thanks to the superb properties of the Sika®-1 Pre-Bagged Structural Waterproofing system, the client was supplied with a high-performance watertight basement in just three weeks, in-keeping with the agreed time-frame and to the client’s full satisfaction. The building is now home to a popular cocktail bar where the liquid flows freely in all areas except the basement.