Solution: Car Parks
Architect: TP Bennett
Contractor: Cemplas

As part of the new One Reading Central, Reading’s largest office building, a two storey internal car park was designed. To provide a safe and durable surface, a car park deck system was required that would be resistant to water, chlorides and offer a highly decorative, non-slip finish. Sikafloor car park deck system from global building products manufacturer Sika was specified for its proven performance and ability to meet the client’s demands

The new ten-storey office building, developed by Kier, is the first of a series of three buildings that will form the Reading Central development – one of Thames Valley’s highest profile office schemes. Designed by architects TP Bennett, One Reading Central features a central atrium, an internal area of approximately 216,000 sq ft and a two-level internal car park. Providing undercover parking for the building’s employees and visitors, the car park is located on the lower ground and ground floor levels of the new building.

The high-profile, city centre development required a first-class finish to its car park deck that would complement the building’s striking appearance. The chosen system also needed to provide a safe and durable surface for constant trafficking by both cars and pedestrians. Sika’s versatile and durable Sikafloor system, met the project’s requirements perfectly.

Sikafloor offers a number of unique, cost-effective and durable waterproofing solutions for a wide range of flooring applications from cold storage facilities and warehouses to car parks. Comprising of a number of different elements, the Sikafloor systems can be specified in various thicknesses, surface textures and colours, depending on project specific requirements.

Specialist contractors, Cemplas completed the works over a three week period, using a combination of three products from Sika - Sikafloor 161, Sikafloor 264 and Sikafloor 350N Elastic polyurethane membrane. The comprehensive system of Sikafloor products combined to meet the client’s exact requirements and create a durable car park deck that would be water-resistant, slip-resistant and with a decorative, long lasting finish.

Before applying the Sikafloor system, Cemplas vacuum blasted the concrete floor slab to clean and prepare the surface. Next, a single coat of Sikafloor 161, a two-part epoxy resin, was used as a moisture resistant primer and base coat. This was broadcast with quartz sand, providing impressive slip resistance and increased protection against abrasion.

There were a number of cracks in the car park’s concrete, which required treatment from an elastomeric system. Sikafloor 350N, a solvent free, highly elastic polyurethane membrane with crack bridging properties was used to repair the cracks prior to the application of the main deck system.

To complete the system, Sikafloor 264 was applied to give an overall car park deck system thickness of 3mm. The specification from the architects utilized two colours of Sikfloor 264, grey and blue, to provide an aesthetically appealing finish, and to separate individual parking spaces from walkways and aisles.On completion of the car park coatings, Cemplas applied line markings and disabled logos including hatching.

The Sikafloor system offered an economical solution to the internal car park at One Reading Central. With its very low odour, the system was applied with relative ease and gave a fantastic, hard-wearing surface finish - ideal for the requirements of a busy city centre car park.

As part of the project, Sika also provides its innovative SikaTack Panel Adhesive. A secret fix system, it uses elastic bonding technology to hold rainscreen cladding in place. Eliminating the need for unsightly mechanical fixing, the system enables the creation of uninterrupted exteriors. At One Reading Central cladding contractor Parry Bowen used it to hold the buildings external ceramic rainscreen cladding, supplied by Domus Facades, in place.

At this prestigious new development in the heart of Reading, the Sikafloor system has ensured that the car park will withstand the constant traffic of both cars and pedestrians for many years to come, whilst the SikaTack Panel Adhesive will ensure the external cladding is held firmly in place.