The October 2020 ceremony inaugurated the Sencorp-SURA office building in the Nueva Las Condes district of Santiago, Chile. PENETRON ADMIX ensured a flawless waterproofing and durability solution for the building’s below-grade concrete structures.
Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana (SURA) is a Colombian financial conglomerate focused on asset management (incl. pensions & savings), insurance/risk management and banking. With 56,900 employees in 11 countries and annual revenues of around US$6.9 billion, the Group’s activities cover virtually all of Latin America – and they’ve recently opened offices in Australia and Luxembourg. In Chile, the Group employs over 2,500 people and achieves annual revenues of approximately US$750 million.
Located in the burgeoning Nueva Las Condes district of Santiago, the US$42 million Sencorp-SURA project combines two adjacent towers (20-floors and 11-floors high) within a single, modernist complex. The towers’ ground level integrates a paved plaza with green areas on top of 6 underground floors for parking. Designed by ASL Arquitectos, an architectural agency based in Las Condes (Santiago), all construction work was carried out by Echeverria Izquierdo, a construction company based in Chile.
Choosing Superior Performance
“Originally, no waterproofing solution was considered in the project specifications for the extensive retaining walls that encircled the construction site of the Sencorp-SURA project,” explains Domingo Lema, Managing Director of Penetron Chile. “Our technical team met with the architects at ASL Arquitectos to discuss the specific parameters for the project and outlined the advantages of a Penetron solution – including cost effectiveness and durability. Ultimately, they specified the Penetron solution.”
Ready-Mix Concretes added PENETRON ADMIX to the concrete mix during batching for the concrete retaining walls and foundations to completely waterproof and prevent seepage of the six below-grade floors that comprise the underground parking garage. PENEBAR SW-45, a swellable waterstop, was used to permanently seal the construction joints.
Generating a Permanent Waterproofing Solution
Once added to the concrete mix, PENETRON ADMIX quickly becomes an integral part of the matrix thanks to a chemical reaction that generates a non-soluble crystalline formation throughout the pores and capillary tracts of the concrete. This formation permanently seals the micro-cracks, pores and capillaries found in concrete against the penetration of water or liquids, even when exposed to high hydrostatic pressure
“Once again, PENETRON ADMIX proved to be the superior solution for a demanding and technically complex project,” adds Domingo Lema. “The simplicity of integrating our admixture enabled the contractor to maintain the project’s construction schedule and also avoid any potential maintenance and repair costs.”
PENETRON ADMIX-protected: The US$42 million Sencorp-SURA office complex combines two adjacent towers (20-floors and 11-floors) with a ground level plaza and a 6-floor underground parking garage.
