Oxford’s Westgate Shopping Centre has been the retail focal point of this historic city since it opened for business in 1973.

Oxford’s Westgate Shopping Centre has been the retail focal point of this historic city since it opened for business in 1973.

In November 2014, Oxford City Council granted permission for the dated shopping centre to be revamped into an 81,922sqft destination for shopping and leisure, with a new John Lewis planned as the flagship store.

£500 million face-lift for shopping centre

The shopping centre was in need of a complete overhaul as it had changed little in over 40 years. The £500 million redevelopment is a major project which, when complete, will feature high street retailers, cafes, restaurants, a five screen Curzon cinema and a basement car park for around 1,000 cars, plus a number of new homes.

Waterproofing expertise from SIG Distribution

Work on the project is currently under way and the waterproofing experts at SIG Distribution will deliver specified Sika products to the build. The waterproofing products will be used to seal the basement car park’s concrete slab and reinforced concrete walls. Securing the contract was a joint effort by key members of the Construction Accessories team.

Sika waterproofing solutions

Nick Smith explains how the Sika products will be used on this project, “Sika is a leading waterproofing brand and Sika products are often used for underground waterproofing projects like this one. For this project SikaProof A12 will be used to seal the basement car park raft slab and the concrete walls will be treated with SikaProof A8. In total over 30,000m2 of concrete will be treated with SikaProof.”

As the site is located next to a river, a complete tanking system will be needed, which is why Waterman’s, the London based engineers for this project, approved the use of SikaProof due its prevention of lateral water movement. The perimeter walls of the car park will be constructed with sheet piles and a concrete liner wall. All construction joints will be formed using SikaSwell S2 and SikaSwell Profile 2010.

Nick continues, “This is a high profile project in the heart of a busy city centre so we plan to deliver the materials intermittently to ensure they meet the demands of the teams on site.”

The 14 acre development will create around 100 new shops and over 100 new homes in the heart of Oxford’s city centre. The project is due to be completed in time for Christmas 2017.