In April 2016, the world-renowned London School of Economics announced that Grafton Architects were to design their next major project. Built by Mace Group, the Marshall Building at 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields includes an extensive two-storey, mixed-use basement that will house squash courts, a sports hall, changing facilities and plant areas, covering a total of over 2,250m2 of floor space and presenting quite the project for Newton Specialist Contractor Cast Contracting Ltd (CCL).
Mace Group, the principal contractor on the project, appointed CCL to design and install the waterproofing in late 2019. Newton Specialist Contractor CCL recommended the Newton CDM System to provide a completely dry, guaranteed solution on such a high-profile project.
The Newton CDM System, otherwise referred to as Type C waterproofing, is the safest and most reliable form of waterproofing.
Prior to installation, CCL applied Newton 906 Lime Inhibitor to the new slab to prevent free lime from the concrete from affecting the drainage membranes. The Type A liquid waterproofing membrane Newton 103-S was also applied internally to many of the concrete surfaces as a barrier to water.
Once preparations were complete, CCL installed over 2,250m2 of Newton 520 eco membrane to the floor and over 570m2 of Newton 508 membrane to the walls, creating the Newton CDM System. Newton Basedrain channels formed a drainage system to direct any water captured by the membranes to the point of discharge, and the whole system was sealed with Newton OverTape.
Despite requiring dedicated delivery slots, and working to an extremely tight program of work, CCL completed the work well within the time limit and were praised for the quality and speed of the installation.
The Newton recycling service was also a great success, recycling 115 kg of HDPE waste and therefore preventing over 132 kg of CO2 emissions.