The Scottish Parliament building is located 1 km (0.6 mi) east of Edinburgh and occupies 4 acres. Enric Miralles wanted to achieve harmony between the Scottish landscape, its people, culture, and the city of Edinburgh. The south-eastern area is extensively landscaped. Roof areas are covered in turf and wild grass providing members of the public with somewhere to sit and relax. Scottish wildflowers and plants cover much of the area, in sympathy with the nearby Holyrood Park and Salisbury Crags. The Dynamic Earth visitors’ centre also sits within the site.

The Scottish Parliament Building was designed with a number of sustainability features in mind. It was built on a brownfield site and all of the electricity purchased for the building comes from renewable sources and solar panels. A high level of insulation was used to keep the building warm during the winter months. The building achieves the highest rating in the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM).

Specifying the correct waterproof membrane for this unique building was of utmost importance for Enric Miralles & RMJM. PermaQuik was chosen for its proven track record and was also widely used beneath the intensive green roofs of the buildings.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ (FCBS) RIBA Award-winning St Mary Magdalene Academy in Islington, North London, is a timber clad L-shaped school, designed to fit a tight space to accommodate 1,360 students. It has a stunning rooftop football pitch and economically stacked learning areas.

Sustainability was a major consideration in the construction of the building. It has biomass boilers, photovoltaic cells and highly sustainable cladding and curtain walling, the school is naturally ventilated to ensure the smallest carbon footprint. This coupled with Radmat Building Products waterproofing system has ensured this is an environmental success as well as a triumph in architectural design and construction.

2 Marsham Street is a mixed-use government headquarters building providing over 1 million square feet of office, residential and retail accommodation. It replaces a previous development nicknamed ‘the ugly sisters’ which restricted public circulation so a new inclusive community was created, enhancing the public experience and the surrounding environment.

A BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating has been achieved for sustainability based on energy performance and building construction helped by the waterproofing system supplied by Radmat Building Products.

Designed by one of the world’s most celebrated modernist architects, Jean Nouvel, this mixed-use development offers approximately 345,100 sq. ft. of prestigious office space and 215,100 sq. ft. of shops, cafés and restaurants.  It has transformed the City into a seven-day shopping and leisure destination, as well as being a centre for blue-chip businesses.

The public roof terrace offers stunning views of St Paul’s Cathedral, never been seen before, perfect for sharing summer evenings in the eateries and bars or just for enjoying the view.

Radmat Building Products delivered the waterproofing system for the roof and roof terraces for this majestic masterpiece of modern architecture.

As part of the regeneration programme within the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Olympic Village (now known as the multiple award-winning East Village) was designed to house the athletes based on reusing the buildings after the games as a new residential district for Stratford.

The 67 acres site, provided for 11 residential plots, each made up of 5 to 7 blocks, built around communal squares and courtyards, with water features accentuating the proximity of the River Lea.

Radmat Building Products provided the waterproofing system and the MedO Extensive living green roofs on much of the apartments, to provide a low maintenance and self-sustaining plant community. 

Working with expert horticulturalists, Radmat Building Products have developed the MedO range of living green roofing systems. All systems are suitable for both new and refurbishment projects and are constructed using the appropriate drainage board, filter fleece and growing medium for the planting required.

The Doughnut is the nickname given to the headquarters of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British cryptography and intelligence agency. Now in its hundredth year, GCHQ is located on a 71-hectare (176-acre) site in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, South West England and is the largest building constructed for secret intelligence operations outside the United States. 

Beneath the central green roof a PermaQuik waterproofing system was specified to provide a lifetime of waterproofing security by Radmat Building Products.

South Bank Tower is a 42-storey development on London’s South Bank, a redevelopment of the Kings Reach Tower which had stood empty since 2007, to create a landmark residential building.

Radmat Approved Contractor Prater was appointed by main contractor Mace to provide the envelope package for the Residents Lounge, which opens up directly onto landscaped green roof areas, together with roofing systems and terraces for the entire building.

Radmat Building Products delivered the hot melt waterproofing PermaQuik and related finishes on multiple floors beacuse of its permeability and lifetime guarantee. A sedum roofing system was also applied on roof terraces.

The Westfield Centre in Shepherd‘s Bush has one of the largest roofs ever designed in central London to cover the retail floor area of 150,000 m² (about 30 football pitches).

The centre was developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, choosing PermaQuik over the huge selection of waterproofing systems to provide the long term security necessary to protect one of the most expensive areas of retail space in the world.

New Ludgate is a development which sympathetically transformed this historic area of the City which had slipped into decline following the exodus of the newspaper industry to Canary Wharf. The undulating modernity of the two new buildings has rejuvenated the area, creating a restored viewing sightline of St Pauls, offering wider walkways, state-of-the-art offices and expansive public areas. Both structures are awarded BREEAM ‘Excellent’, not least for the amount of daylight the buildings have been designed to achieve, reducing the need for artificial light on the office floors. Coupled with the efficient waterproofing solutions supplied by Radmat they will be landmark features for many years to come.

The project, designed by architects Fletcher Priests and Sauerbruch Hutton, creates high quality, sustainable workplaces, with roof gardens landscaped by Gustafson Porter. The numerous terraces and balconies on most of the floors permit access to outdoor space and enjoy stunning London views.

The scheme won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) top prize for Commercial Office Building of the Year 2016, was nominated for the City of London Building of the Year Award and shortlisted for the NLA Office Building of the Year Award.

See also: Arc Daily‘s page for this development

Nova is a 897,000 square feet mixed use development, comprising of Grade A offices, 193,000 square feet of contemporary high quality apartments, 85,000 square feet of restaurants, eateries, bars, and retail. It will comprise five buildings within a new, 82,700 square feet, pedestrianised, landscaped public space, opposite Victoria mainline railway station and at the heart of London’s West End.

Radmat Building Products delivered the waterproofing solution for this prestigious project due for completion in September 16.

In its challenging city-centre location, Guy’s Tower has undergone a huge refurbishment with the ageing 143m tall building upgraded to current performance, environmental and aesthetic standards. Overcoming a series of unique on-site challenges – including working at height in a live hospital environment – Radmat approved contractor, Richardson Roofing installed more than 1,000m² of high performance roofing membranes to help bring the landmark building back to its best.

Originally founded in 1721, the hospital built the 34 storey Guy’s Tower in 1974. When a feasibility study commissioned by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in 2008 revealed severe deterioration of its concrete facade, failing windows and poor environmental performance, a comprehensive refurbishment was deemed the safest and most cost-effective solution.

Designed by architects Penoyre and Prasad and delivered by Balfour Beatty, the £26 million refurbishment included the application of new cladding and glazing systems, and thermal upgrade and waterproofing  of a 45° pitched roof and a series of inverted terraces. Balfour Beatty also required an innovative environmentally friendly solution that would deliver the thermal performance required whilst ensuring health and safety of operatives and members of the public were covered.

With safety absolutely paramount across the development, Radmat’s Esha range of membranes proved the perfect solution minimising material cost, application time and waste disposals. The use of Esha systems also enabled Radmat Approved Contractor Richardson Roofing to meet Balfour Beatty’s highest safety standards in line with its Zero Harm Vision.

For the asphalt covered sloping roof on the 34th floor, EshaUniversal waterproofing was specified with ProTherm PIR (polyisocyanurate) insulation as part of a complete Radmat roofing system. Made from recycled materials and 100% recyclable – EshaUniversal offered a simple application and the required performance to meet the demands of this complex and sustainable refurbishment.

Offering an efficient and safe installation, a 2mm thick EshaBase SA Alu self-adhesive vapour control layer was adhered directly to the existing asphalt using Esha SA Primer.  Due to the wind loading 142m above London, the 120mm thick ProTherm PIR insulation was mechanically fixed to the deck using Radmat ProFast fixings, prior to the mechanical fastening of the EshaUniversal single layer membrane. The resulting roof achieved current Approved Document L requirements for thermal performance. Low level flat roof areas were also covered with the same specification to provide an assurance of trouble free performance for many years to come.

On the inverted roofs, on levels 34 and 31, asbestos tiles were safely removed, and the asphalt was overlaid with two layers of Radmat’s EshaGum 3mm reinforced bitumen membrane. The existing asphalt surface was prepared to ensure no defects or blisters across the entire application prior to the installation of the EshaGum, with a 200mm thick Radmat ProTherm inverted roof insulation board installed to upgrade the roof’s thermal performance. Completing the installation was the application of paving slabs on spacers resulting in a series of terraces that now meet the thermal performance requirements of Part L of the Building Regulations.

Despite the complex refurbishment presenting a number of challenges on-site, the high quality and innovative roofing solutions from Radmat and Richardson Roofing helped to keep the landmark refurbishment on course for its 2014 completion. The company’s range of safe, economical and sustainable roofing solutions proved ideal for this landmark project where long term energy efficiency was key to its success.

Chelsea Creek is a prestigious waterside development by award winning developer, St George. Set in a stunning location offering peace and tranquility, the development is inspired by the canal-side architecture of Amsterdam, featuring a collection of luxury apartments and penthouses alongside reinstated canals.

As well as the apartments, about a third of the properties will be made available for affordable housing, launched within the next two years. The combination of young first-time buyers and wealthy owners has worked in harmony at the site and is an inspiring scheme for other London developments.

Radmat were chosen to provided the waterproofing and insulation solutions using Radmat ProTherm insulation installed above the PermaQuik 6100 layer together with a thermal sheet/water control layer in accordance with ETAG 031 requirements, enabling the achievement of U values up to and beyond 0.10 W/m²K.

Radmat Building Products has supplied a PermaQuik Hot Melt Waterproof roofing system for the timber-framed Parliamentary Education Centre in Westminster. The system provides high performance, sustainable waterproofing that is guaranteed for the lifetime of the building and forms the basis of two diverse living green roofs: one sedum and the other extensively planted.

• Specially engineered solution to restrain the 15 degree pitch intensive green roof

• The building is portable, so it can be moved to a different site.

Located in Victoria Tower Gardens, the single-storey Parliamentary Education Centre welcomes 100,000 children a year where they learn about the history of British democracy, citizenship and politics. The £7.5 million BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated structure features a 15-degree sloping roof, intensively planted to complement the ground planting featuring English hedgerow species, including hawthorn, holly and honeysuckle designed by renowned landscape architect Kim Wilkie.

Architects Feilden+Mawson designed a timber framed building with a 300m2 cold roof (insulation between the ceiling and timber cassette roof deck) with one extensive and one intensive green roof. With such a lightweight structure restraining the 15° pitch intensive green roof required an innovative design.

To meet the demanding brief PermaQuik PQ6100 hot melt monolithic waterproofing was chosen, in combination with MedO green roof systems. The challenge of the shear force created by the sloping roof was solved using MedO Shear-Fix 300 and TRP140 at the eaves and centre of the roof.

Radmat Approved Contractor SD Samuels installed the PermaQuik PQ6100 system with a Texsa Protection sheet, incorporating more than 100 venting penetrations.

A MedO extensive sedum green roof system was installed to the flat roof areas, and the MedO Intensive sloping green roof consisting of MedO D75 drainage board, erosion Netting, ShearFix LF-300 and Eaves profile TRP140. Both roofs feature Radmat’s FLL Certified GMO/12 Growing Medium, a blend of natural products that provides good nutrient retention capacity promoting plant germination and growth.

Radmat’s products were chosen for their watertight properties, sustainability, plant growth promotion and comprehensive guarantee. The PermaQuik system is the go-to choice for waterproofing beneath green roofs, where long-term waterproofing is essential, and its BBA Certification for ‘the lifetime of the structure’ gives client comfort.

Once established, the green roof and hedgerow gardens will be the only visible element of the Education Centre when viewed from the park, sympathetically concealing the portable structure form the adjacent Palace of Westminster, a UNESCO World Heritage site. And with Radmat’s sustainable and high performance solution, the living roof will provide a welcoming space to visiting school children for many years.

The Tate Modern’s Switch House is a new pyramid-shaped tower is built above the former power station’s subterranean oil tanks. The extension, which can be seen as you approach from the north, comprises ten floors that become incrementally smaller towards the top of the tower and culminates in a spectacular public roof terrace. Visitors to the roof are rewarded with 360-degree views of the river Thames, St Paul’s Cathedral and the London skyline, and you can see as far as Tower Bridge, the Old Bailey and Wembley Stadium.

Radmat Building Products supplied a waterproofing solution to roof and viewing platform on the newly opened extension.