Completed in October 2021, the new Eric Tweedale Stadium in Granville, New South Wales, Australia, was officially opened to the public in December 2021. PENETRON ADMIX, a crystalline waterproofing admixture, was specified to protect the project’s concrete structures.
Granville is a suburb of about 16,000 inhabitants in the western part of the metropolitan Sydney area, only 18 kilometers (11 miles) west of the city’s central business district. The $11.3 million stadium is home to the Two Blues Rugby Union Club and offers a modern venue for a range of community sports.
Named after an Australian rugby star, the Eric Tweedale Stadium in Granville features a 760-seat grandstand with change rooms, a multi-purpose room and fitness gym, a first-floor function venue, a commercial kitchen, and an outdoor viewing deck. Designed by dwp (design worldwide partnership), together with Northrop Engineers, the project won the 2021 Australian Timber Design Award thanks to the striking cantilevered timber roof, which was noted as “a benchmark for sustainable construction with a key focus on an intricately detailed timber roof structure” by the awards committee.
Protecting Exposed Concrete
“While the Granville Stadium project received well-deserved attention for the unique and highly visible wooden roof, it’s the underlying concrete structures that form the support structure of the stadium,” notes Jozef Van Beeck, Director of International Sales & Marketing for The Penetron Group. “As an important part of the Granville community infrastructure, the new stadium required the most durable solution available for these concrete elements.”
During the planning and design phase of the project, Penetron Australia was asked to provide a concrete waterproofing solution to protect all exposed concrete structures and to counter the hydrostatic pressure of the high groundwater levels at the stadium site.
Optimal Solution for More Durable Concrete
PENETRON ADMIX was specified by Holcim, the project’s ready-mix concrete supplier, as the optimal concrete waterproofing solution to ensure durable – and waterproof – concrete structures. For the stadium, these structures included the grandstand seating, the function rooms, elevator pits, underground stormwater system, and further below-grade structures. The concrete treated with PENETRON ADMIX is impermeable. This enhanced impermeability not only provides waterproof concrete, but it also ensures an extended service life for the concrete structures.
“Our crystalline waterproofing admixture provides permanent protection for concrete exposed to the weather and below-grade areas of hydrostatic pressure,” says Jozef Van Beeck. “PENETRON ADMIX also provides an added self-healing capability that will automatically self-heal and seal any hairline cracks that appear during the lifespan of the concrete. That will keep the games at the Granville Stadium going for a long time!”
Award-winning design: The unique wooden roof of the Granville Stadium got most of the attention, but it’s the underlying concrete structures that form the stadium’s support structure.
