2016
Auckland, New Zealand

The 40 story Metropolis was built in December 1999. This 5 star property occupies a prime site in the heart of Auckland’s Central Business District. Once the country’s tallest building, it remains the tallest apartment building in New Zealand. One of its many luxury amenities is a 22 metre heated swimming pool on the 8th floor.

Project Requirements

Seventeen years after its completion, the pool on the 8th floor of the Metropolis was not in good shape. The substrate was crumbling, steel rusting and tiles surrounding the pool were lifting too.

Holes had even been drilled through the original membrane so light fittings could be attached and the pool was leaking. Calcium carbonate had leached down on to a resident’s Ferrari parked two floors below. Time for action!

Sika New Zealand was contacted by Peddle Thorp Architects to help with the both product recommendations as well as the essential repair processes.

The pool, spa, sauna and Jacuzzi were all repaired and retiled. So too were all the tiles surrounding these areas. Even the inside of the 30 cubic litres ballast tank had to be repaired then retiled.

Challenges

  • Minimal disruption to the Metropolis’s many permanent residents was essential. Dust, noise, water, fumes and foot traffic all had to be kept to an absolute minimum.
  • Before any repair work could commence, over 36,000 litres of water from the pool and adjoining ballast tank had to be drained and the pool and apron areas heat dried.
  • No product could be carried through the lobby or other guest areas. Every single bag of Waterproofing and Adhesive - 5 pallets of waterproofing, 10 pallets of Sika Screed Binder and 7 pallets of SikaCeram-255 LD in total - had to be carried to the pool area one at a time via external scaffolding.

Sika Products

Sika® MonoTop-352
Sikalastic®-152
Sika® Fibre Mesh
Sika® SealTape-S
Sikadur® Combiflex®
SikaCeram®-255 Starflex LD
SikaCeram® CleanGrout
SikaCeram® LatexGrout
SikaCeram® EpoxyGrout
Sikasil® Pool
Sikasil® Color
Sika® Screed Binder

Project Participants

Specifier
Peddle Thorp Architects

Main Contractor
Cunningham Construction

Specialist Contractor
Olympic Tiling

 

Project Size

1500 m2