The Boulevard, situated in Woodstock Cape Town, is an upmarket commercial landmark and a popular home to both local and international tenants. This uniquely beautiful, glass building was in need of a face lift to ensure the structure was of sound integrity. The project commenced in March 2018 and had been completed in June 2018.
When this project was approved to reseal around the glass windows from concrete to frame, Ross Hall, from Ultimate Heights, the main Contractor on site contacted Jan Ellis, Technical Sales Consultant-Sika SA Ellis advised Hall to use Sikaflex-AT Façade, a high performance elastic joint sealant, as an ideal solution for the application. Sikaflex-AT Façade is a one-component, moisture-curing low modulus elastic sealant.
This product is designed specifically joint sealing of movement and connection joints, porous and non-porous substrates. Offering excellent workability characteristics as well as low stress to the substrate, it is solvent-free and silicone-free and although primerless adhesion on many substrates is possible with Sikaflex AT Facade, the extreme weather exposure of this building necessitated the specification of a primer.
External concrete of the building
On completion of the initial part of the project, the contractor addressed the exposed external concrete of the building which was to be coated with Sikalastic-152. The concrete was laden with cracks and pores resulting in water forming internal ponds and therefore required a protective waterproof coating. In order for the application of the SIkalastic-152 to be done all office space had to be cleared and the furniture moved out due to the leaking of the outer walls. The product was applied as a two coat system at a 3mm thickness.
Sikalastic-152 is a 2-component fibre reinforced mortar, with a low elastic modulus, based on cement modified with special alkali-resistant polymers. It contains fine particle size selected aggregates and adequate additives for waterproofing and protection of concrete subgrades.
The client required an earthy, more natural look for the finish and consequently a final coat was applied including a stipple finish incorporating river sand in the Sikalastic-152 to achieve the desired effect, completing the main waterproofing element of the structure.
The time constraints of the project were challenging yet the Sika Sales team incorporated our company cross selling model by including both Contractors and Industry sales staff to offer the best possible solution for the glass windows and waterproofing to upgrade this prestigious stretch of building in the heart of Cape Town.
SIKA CORPORATE PROFILE
Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and automotive industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 100 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 18,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 6.25 billion in 2017.
