Sika has provided a comprehensive range of waterproofing solutions for the new £140 million Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. Located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the new 300 bed hospital will replace the existing Papworth Hospital and is being built by Skanska for the Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

An essential consideration for the hospital basement area is the Sika Watertight Concrete System which complies with BS 8102:2009 Grade 3 for habitable areas where no water penetration is acceptable.

To meet the requirements, Sika provided the specialist RC frame contractor Whelan and Grant with a dual system of more than 2,000m3 of Sika Watertight Concrete and 16,000m2 of the Company’s innovative SikaProof A-08 waterproofing membrane system.

Steve Wood, Contracts Manager, Whelan and Grant, commented: “There was a high water table on this project, so a dewatering system had to be kept running whilst the basement walls were being built. "As the basement raft slab formed the top of the pile cap, the SikaProof A-08 membrane stopped at the pile cap, lapping onto the Sikadur 32 liquid applied membrane which was on top of the pile cap.”