Univsersity of New South Wales – Australia

Installer/Applicator:

• Danrae Building Services Pty. Ltd. – New South Wales, Australia

General Contractors:

• Campus Living Villages Pty Ltd, – Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Architects:

• WATPAC Design & Construct – Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Product Featured:

• ARDEX WPM 615 TPO Roofing Membrane

Challenges:

• A waterproof membrane for a 1500 m2 (16,146 ft2) roof that was to support more than 20,000 m2 (706,293 ft2 ) of soil and extensive planting
• Structure spanned the car park of new student accommodation complex and was a significant element in making this predominantly concrete area environmentally green Problem:

A new sustainable roof was being built over the UNSW Student Accommodation Carpark Rooftop. A major part of the installation required the use of a roofing membrane that would be completely impervious to water and root penetration. The integrity of the product was critical, as any leaks would prove extremely costly and labor intensive to repair. ARDEX Australia worked with WATPAC Design & Construct to find a product solution.

Solution:

ARDEX recommended ARDEX WPM 615 be specified as a flexible Thermoplastic PolyOlefin roofing membrane made from ethylene propylene rubber and polypropylene matrix, reinforced with a polyester weft. ARDEX WPM 615 was designed to be hot-air welded at the seams ensuring a fast installation. The product is safe and easy to use, since there is no open flame. These properties and assurances from ARDEX Australia were key factors in WATPAC’s specification of the product for the UNSW project. ARDEX WPM 615 was the perfect product to build the sustainable roof because of its own sustainable properties. When manufactured, ARDEX WPM 615 uses a lower carbon footprint than most similar systems and can easily be recycled. ARDEX WPM 615 is also chlorine-free, and because of its formulation and installation design, the product yields no emissions harmful to the environment. WATPAC has expressed its satisfaction with ARDEX WPM 615 and their desire to it again. UNSW won awards in sustainability and multi-unit housing at the Randwick City Council Urban Design Awards and High Density Development at the UDIA NSW Excellence Awards for this project