The LSH Hotel, Rio’s newest luxury beachside address, opened March 2018. The local Penetron team helped implement a “white tank system” to provide a maximum level of protection and added durability for the hotel’s below-grade concrete structures.
With a distinctive, pyramidal design, the LSH is a 170-room luxury hotel located on the Barra da Tijuca Beach, adjacent to the iconic Pepê Beach. The 16,000 m2 (172,250 square feet) of floor space are stacked on 13 floors; two basement levels serve as an underground parking garage. The hotel offers large rooms (34 m² - 450 m²) with spacious balconies and memorable views. The hotel’s elegant infinity swimming pool has a glass bottom and views of the nearby Atlantic Ocean.
The R$ 300 million (US$91 million) project started out as a flooded construction site. The property’s high groundwater, due to the hotel’s proximity to the sea, presented LAFEN, the project contractor, with formidable challenges. Before the foundation could be poured, the water table needed to be lowered; over 2,170,800 m3 of water (76,662,000 cubic feet) were drained from the site.
Advantages of a “White Tank System”
A “white tank system” was chosen to waterproof the below-ground structures, which denotes a concrete structure waterproofed entirely with an integral crystalline treatment, instead of a conventional “black tanking” method that relies on an environmentally questionable bituminous membrane (or tar products) fixed to the concrete surface. The integral, “white tank” solution, carried out by Impermaster Concrete, avoids complicated installation procedures, relying instead on PENETRON technology to ensure permanent waterproofing performance with a self-healing capability for the life of the concrete structure.
“This solution shows the strengths of our crystalline solution,” adds Cláudio Neves Ourives, Executive Director of Penetron Brazil. “Added during batching of the concrete mix, the waterproofing effect is permanent, saves time and virtually eliminates any future maintenance costs, which are often needed with a membrane or topically-applied tar solution.”
PENETRON System Provides Enhanced Concrete Durability
PENETRON ADMIX was added to about 1,300 m3 (1,700 cubic yards) of concrete used for the hotel foundation below-grade structures; 1,000 m of PENEBAR SW-55 waterstop sealed the construction joints. PENETRON crystalline topical material, PENECRETE MORTAR and PENEPLUG (to stop active leaks) were also applied to exposed concrete surfaces as a further precaution.
“Applying the PENETRON System keeps water from penetrating into the concrete matrix even under high hydrostatic pressure, and it also provides protection against corrosion and chemical attacks,” adds Cláudio Neves Ourives. “Our ‘white tank solution’ used in the LSH Hotel in Rio will substantially add durability and ensure a longer lifetime to the concrete structure.”
Beachside pyramid luxury: The new LSH Hotel uses a “white tank system” to keep all below-ground concrete structures entirely waterproofed – thanks to the integral PENETRON crystalline treatment.
