Listed Vault Waterproofing in Central London
27 August 2020
Overview
Summary
Beneath the streets of Central London lies a network of Grade II Listed underground vaults. Newton Specialist Contractors, Stonehouse, were called in to waterproof four of these impressive structures and turn them into a completely dry commercial space.
The Project
The four Grade II Listed vaults were situated just north of the River Thames in central London, a short walk from famous landmarks such as Smithfield Market and St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Grade II Listed structures are each over 4 metres in height, and form part of an impressive below-ground infrastructure network. Newton Specialist Contractor Stonehouse was asked to waterproof four of these impressive vaults for the multinational service provider KPMG, in order to turn them into useful commercial spaces.
The Solution
When waterproofing historic vaults such as these, the Newton CDM System provides the ideal solution as it is maintainable, requires minimal fixings and therefore avoids damaging the structure, and crucially is deemed as reversible should the structure need to be returned to its original condition in future. As an experienced contractor, Stonehouse proceeded with an expert installation of a full CDM System to the tricky vaults, including:
- 508 Mesh membrane to the walls, for a direct plaster finish
- 508 membrane and Fibran XPS 500-C insulation boards to the floor
- Basedrain channels to direct any captured water towards two Titan-Pro sump chambers, each containing two NP400 pumps
- Victron Inverter and a NorthStar battery for reliable back-up power
The Result
Stonehouse completed an extremely complex and detailed cavity drain installation with precision, resulting in an exceptionally neat waterproofing system, and proving the benefits of using a specialist waterproofing contractor.
