Waterproofing: The Dickson Poon China Centre, St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford

Client: University of Oxford

Contractor: Galliford Try

The magnificent Dickson Poon Building in the grounds of St Hugh’s College is a prestigious, state of the art, multi-storey centre opened on 8 September 2014 by HRH The Duke of Cambridge. The project comprised a large basement with a floor space of nearly 5,500 square metres to house a large part of the Bodleian Libraries’ Chinese book collection. The basement also features a 100-seat lecture theatre and ornamental central garden.

Due to the nature of the basement space housing an extensive and irreplaceable historic literary archive and the proposed high-level of internal finishes, providing a reliable waterproofing solution was of utmost importance.

Working closely with the Architect and Construction team, Advanced Basements independently designed and installed a multi-line of defence waterproofing system, with Fosroc external Type A Barrier membranes, integral Type B concrete and a fail-safe Newton membranes internal Type C Cavity drain membrane system with bespoke drainage arrangement.

By combining thoughtful and considered design with robust and methodical installation, this challenging project became a great success.