Braywick Leisure Centre
Installation of ceramic tiles in the swimming pools and along the walkways in a large sports and leisure centre in the south of England
Since the summer of 2020 the residents of Maidenhead, a city in the English county of Berkshire, have been able to enjoy the many attractions and leisure-time activities on offer at the brand-new Braywick Leisure Centre, a polyfunctional sports and leisure complex built thanks to an investment of more than 37 million Euros. Designed by BRL Architects, the complex replaced the old Magnet Leisure Centre, offering visitors an even wider choice of sports and cultural activities over a larger area, and with energy consumption reduced by 70%. Under the centre’s curved roof there is a 10-lane swimming pool, a family pool, a gym, a coffee bar, a dance school, a 2000 m2 sports arena, numerous stands for the public, a synthetic grass football and rugby pitch, squash courts, an area for indoor cycling, various escape rooms, a spa and a conference room. All the areas are connected via 400 m2 of walkways.
Apart from attracting residents from the surrounding areas, the centre, immersed in the lush parkland of the Braywick nature reserve, also hosts national and international sports events.
From substrates to floor and wall coverings
In the swimming pools, the areas around the pools and in the changing rooms and corridors, TOPCEM special hydraulic binder was chosen to create normal-setting, fast-drying screeds. The substrates of the walls were levelled off with PLANITOP FAST 330 fibre-reinforced, quick-setting cementitious mortar, which may be applied in layers from 3 to 30 mm thick on both internal and external floors and walls.
In these areas of the centre, as well as in the pools and along the walkways, EPORIP two-component epoxy adhesive was used to bond the screeds and fill cracks in the substrates.
The substrates for the pools and the floors in the changing rooms were waterproofed with MAPELASTIC SMART two-component, highly flexible cementitious mortar, and MAPEBAND rubber tape along the corners and edges between adjacent walls and between the floors and walls.
Apart from this system, in the areas around the pools and in the changing rooms, MAPETEX SEL macro-perforated, polypropylene reinforcement was also added, which is used to strengthen flexible cementitious membranes where there is a potentially high risk of deformation and cracking.
KERAQUICK S1, a flexible adhesive distributed in the UK by Mapei UK (whose counterpart on the international markets is KERAQUICK MAXI S1), was chosen to install the ceramic tiles in the pools, the areas around the pools and in the corridors. For the walls in the same areas, on the other hand, KERAFLEX MAXI S1 was used to install the ceramic tiles, a flexible cementitious adhesive with Low Dust technology, extended open time, excellent workability and no vertical slip.
A long walkway
The long walkway connecting the various areas of the centre was also covered with ceramic tiles: in this particular case KERAQUICK XL FIBRELITE*, an adhesive manufactured and distributed on the British market by Mapei UK, was chosen to install porcelain tiles in various sizes (750 x 750 mm and 750 x 375 mm).
All the joints in the ceramic coverings in the Braywick Leisure Centre were grouted with ULTRACOLOR PLUS high-performance, quick-drying and setting cementitious mortar, which was also chosen for its durability, ease of cleaning and the extensive range of colours available. All the expansion joints in the ceramic surfaces were sealed with MAPESIL AC pure acetic sealant.
Not only ceramic tiles
In the areas dedicated to the various sports on offer and in the shops, the screeds were treated with ECO PRIM T PLUS acrylic primer, waterproofed with MAPEPROOF ONE COAT* and levelled off with ULTRAPLAN RENOVATION SCREED 3240*. In the shops, the vinyl floor coverings were bonded with ULTRABOND ECO VS90 PLUS, a universal adhesive specific for rubber and PVC floor and wall coverings on absorbent substrates. The balustrades used to cordon off the spectator stands were repaired with MAPEGROUT SV quick-setting and hardening, easy-flow mortar while MAPEFILL GP* mortar was used to anchor structural elements in the spectator stands. In some of the areas below ground level, PLASTIMUL bitumen emulsion was used for waterproofing applications.
*These products are manufactured and distributed on the British market by Mapei UK.
