The Point Business Centre, Nottingham

The Point Business Centre in Nottingham is a modern Grade A office building. A terrace area provides accessible outside space for the third-floor office area.

With water ingress into spaces below, the terrace was refurbished to provide a watertight roof and provide usable outside space.

The terrace area is over occupied second floor offices. The original build-up included a buried mastic asphalt waterproofing with an overburden. At some point this overburden was removed and overlaid with a liquid coating.

The terraces’ existing waterproofing membrane was failing, with water ingress, ponding water, drainage concerns and defects including cracks, blisters, ruckling and slumping evident.

It was important to establish the terrace build-up and condition of the underlying substrate, in order to provide the best solution for the client. The Triflex technical team undertook core sampling which determined that the build-up included insulation, timber deck, mastic asphalt and an unknown liquid coating. The mastic asphalt was determined to be in very poor condition and not suitable for direct traffic. As a consequence the timber deck and firring strips had begun to fail too.

Working with Triflex Authorised Contractor Cassie Thomas & Sons and the client, Rushcliffe Borough Council, it was determined that the solution should include stripping up the existing waterproofing build-up due to its poor state. A solution was required that improved the falls and reduced the ponding issues as part of the terrace refurbishment. As with many terraces, balconies and walkways, the existing upstand heights need careful consideration. The terrace upstand height in this case was inadequate for a tapered scheme, and an alternative was required.

Triflex bespoke project specification proposed Triflex ProScreed, a new rapid curing screed that could be rapidly laid to falls to a minimum thickness of just 5mm. Rainproof in as little as 30 minutes and able to withstand stress in 60 minutes, falls can be quickly created and ready for the Triflex waterproofing solution.

Here, a Triflex ProTerra Quartz Design with large grain quartz was proposed to meet the requirement for a directly trafficked system that was EN 1305-5_BROOF(t4) tested. The Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin based system delivers rapid curing liquid applied waterproof membrane with high levels of anti-skid. Triflex PMMA resins are hydrolysis resistant meaning that they will not degrade in water, but with an improved fall ponding water should be a thing of the past.

The use of the Triflex screed and waterproofing rapid curing systems together meant that the terrace could be refurbished quickly. Completed to a high standard, the 100m² terrace is now a usable, safe and inviting asset to the modern office block.