Level Access Shower Rooms at Addenbrookes Hospital
For this project, Addenbrookes Hospital required 34 Level Access Shower Rooms across the various wards of the building, ‘level access’ is a term that is normally used in relation to accessibility for people with a disability. Accessible Wetrooms are often found in hospitals, nursing homes and other residential facilities. In Level access shower areas, the entire floor is covered with a non-slip vinyl safety flooring.
The hospital carried out extensive research into the most cost effective and long lasting shower tray formers on the market. The Aquatecnic Shower Tray Formers beat the competition to win the contract with the contractor being impressed with the track record and long guarantee offered on the formers, alongside the overall quality of materials. The Aquatecnic Shower Tray Formers are made from 24mm birch ply which provides a rigid and stable showering area and comes with excellent ecological credentials. The formers are coated with Aquaproof Tanking which is CE approved and has been rigorously tested for use in wetrooms.
In level access wetrooms, the vinyl safety flooring is regarded as the primary waterproofing. The material is strong and with the welded seams it shouldn’t leak. However, increasingly we find that level access showing areas are being specified with a secondary waterproofing immediately under the vinyl. This is because over the years there have been a large number of issues with leaking vinyl floors. This could be caused by mechanical damage, the top edge of the vinyl coming unclipped, an imperfect weld or just generally bad detailing.
If the room is tanked beneath the vinyl, then any leakage is retained within the room. Repairs can then be made without any leakage from the shower envelope. The decision as to whether a secondary waterproofing is required comes down to risk against cost. In hospitals or apartment buildings where the risk is greatest, secondary tanking is often specified.
The project was undertaken by OMEC Building Services WACO UK Ltd and completed in September 2008.
