Luca Negri

Waterproofing the double underground gymnasium

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The CPC double gym in Chiasso is the victory of lightness over weight, interaction over separation, flexibility over rigidity.

Waterproofing the double underground gymnasium, designed by architects Baserga and Mozzetti in fair-faced concrete.

The CPC double gym in Chiasso is the victory of lightness over weight, interaction over separation, flexibility over rigidity.

The duality between the podium and the covering volume of the room is defined by a detachment, produced by a punctual support on all four sides.

Through this suspension, the monolithic volume appears very light, to the point of seeming to be held back – rather than supported – by the four lateral Vs.

The detachment connects the interior space with the urban and natural elements that surround the gym. An interaction that places it in the context of the school and cultural campus, weaving various relationships with the peculiar elements of the place.

The building reacts to different situations and topographical differences. To the north it has an access terrace, in relation to the school buildings and access from the public car park. To the south, a flight of steps in relation to the small garden.

A delimitation of the road field and the existing square to the east. Finally, it is at the same level as the m.a.x Museum and the Spazio Officina, sharing their public vocation.

The podium is a Drytech tank. The insulation of the internal facades is protected by an exposed wooden strip in the lower part and by an acoustic paneling in the upper part.

From an energy point of view, the building meets the criteria of the Minergie standard.

Client: Canton Ticino logistics section

Project: Architetti Nicola Baserga e Christian Mozzetti, Muralto

Structure: Ingegneri Andrea e Eugenio Pedrazzini, Lugano

Construction: Mafledil, Osogna

Drytech Tank: 2’128 m²

Waterproofing the underground garage

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The beautiful building designed by Gieffe Studio has a north-facing façade with completely windows

Waterproofing the underground garage of a beautiful building with a completely windowed north façade.
Rules are made (also) to be broken.

The choice of Gieffe Studio’s project is dictated by the shape of the site and made possible by the performance of modern thermal insulation systems and materials.

The three-family villa is set in a sloping plot facing north-west, with a 270° view of the Cassarate valley, which ranges from the Denti della Vecchia to Lake Lugano.

Gieffe Studio has therefore designed ultra-panoramic window walls for the living areas, recessed and re-oriented with respect to the front of the building, thus guaranteeing the interiors natural lighting and correct sun protection in all seasons and favoring the view of the mountains on the north façade and of the lake on the west.

At street level there is the garage, connected to the floors by an internal lift, and built with a 700 m2 Drytech Tank. The main entrance is located on the south side, at the height of the third floor.

The rationalist design is made organic by the warm travertine stone cladding and the changing reflection of the mountains and the sky that is projected onto the large windows and the elegant glass railings.
The cut and the different tones of the stones lighten the large continuous wall on the mountain side, harmoniously inserting the volume into the gentle slope of the land.

Project: Gieffe Studio, Lugano

Structure: Eng. Lucini Cesare, Paradiso

Construction: Gtl, Gravesano

Drytech Tank: 700 m2

Waterproofing of the London sewage system

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The Lee Tunnel is one of the two pipelines that convey an average of 39 million tons per year of wastewater, coming from 35 sewer pipes, built in the Victorian era as part of the network that still serves London, after 150 years.

Drytech realised the waterproofing of one of the main pipes of the London sewage system with the Drytech Tank system.

The Lee Tunnel is one of the two pipelines that convey an average of 39 million tons per year of wastewater, coming from 35 sewer pipes, built in the Victorian era as part of the network that still serves London, after 150 years.

The works began in September 2010 at the Beckton treatment plant, with the construction of the first of the four 80-meter wells, waterproofed by laying DRYset channels in the joints, then sealed with DRYflex resin injections.

The sections of the 120-meter-long milling machine were then lowered through the shaft, which in 2012 began excavating the connection tunnels, with a diameter of 7 meters.

The infrastructure is part of the strategic plan to improve and ensure the health of the Thames waters. The system routes discharges from London’s largest surplus sewer to Mills Abbey Pumping Station in Stratford, which handles 40 per cent of the total waste.

The four miles of tunnel were built beneath the Borough of Newham, from Abbey Mills to Beckton. The new tunnel helps prevent more than 16 million tonnes of sewage mixed with rainwater from overflowing into the River Lee each year, capturing and transferring it to Beckton’s sewage treatment facilities, which are in turn being expanded by 60 per year. one hundred to cope with the increase in volumes handled.

This is the deepest tunnel ever built in London. This involved excavating in conditions of high groundwater pressures, along four miles of extraordinarily abrasive soil and without lateral vent pipes.

Owner: Thames Water Utilities, London

Structure: Engineer Emmanuel Costes, London 

Construction: Morgan Vinci Bachy JV, London

Waterproofing: Drytech UK, London

Waterproofing of the stage pit of the La Scala theatre

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As part of the renovation and expansion of the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan designed by architect Mario Botta, the waterproofing of the scenic pit was carried out, with 850 m² of stalls and 2,500 of walls.

Drytech carried out the waterproofing of the colossal stage pit of the La Scala theatre in Milan, reducing the Gantt diagram by 90 days compared to a traditional waterproofing system.

As part of the renovation and extension of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan designed by architect Mario Botta, the waterproofing of the stage pit was carried out, with a Drytech Tank of 850 m² of stalls and 2,500 m² of walls.

The Drytech Tank System was chosen because it made it possible to waterproof the tie rods of the unloaded floor.

It also saved about 90 days of work for the entire calendar of works because the waterproofing activities are independent and parallel to those of the construction site and are in fact removed from the Gantt chart.

A further saving of time and resources derives from the fact that the elevations of the Drytech tank are thrown directly against the micropiles, making the lining and the wall coincide.

The new stage tower rises 38 meters and the stage pit is 18 meters deep. The new structure behind the stage allows you to manage the sets of 3 shows at the same time.

Sophisticated stage machines allow you to completely change the show in just 6 minutes.

Client: Comune di Milano, Milano

Project: Mario Botta Architetto, Lugano

Structure: BMS Progetti, Milano

Construction: Consorzio Cooperative Costruzioni, Bologna

Drytech Tank: 3,350 m²

Waterproofing basement garage

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A brutalist structure in red concrete makes the historic seat of the municipality of Bioggio contemporary. Architects Bronner and Bruno.

Waterproofing of the basement garage of the brutalist red concrete structure that makes the historic seat of the town hall of Bioggio contemporary.

Work of the architects Lorenzo Bronner and Luciana Bruno, the intervention added a large external staircase to the eastern façade, incorporated into a thin reinforced concrete frame that recalls the Venetian red of the nineteenth-century building.

A perfect connection between past and present, reiterated and at the same time modernized by the deep frames that define the window spaces. The constant module of the openings on the facades of the original body becomes asymmetrical and intermittent on the new facade, yet recognizable in the grid hinted at by the occasional openings.

The clear stringcourses of the original body connect to the frames of the glass walls that incorporate the new external staircase, establishing a further connection between the stylistic features of the two architectures.

In continuity with the concrete wall, the architects Bronner and Bruno designed a podium in which the large basement garage for police vehicles is located. The podium slab is covered with a large grassy surface that interacts with the brutalist façade.

Two external staircases in the same color as the structure allow access to the entrance level. The footboards of the steps were waterproofed with the Drycoat covering which, thanks to the flexibility of the quartz colour, made the stairs perfectly in tone and integrated with the rest of the intervention.

Project: Bronner+Bruno Architetti, Bioggio

Structure: Engineering Studio Reali Guscetti, Quinto

Construction: Taddei, Viganello

Drytech Tank: 600 m2

Waterproofing of the Allianz Isozaki skyscraper

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The Isozaki Tower in the CityLife district, inspired by Costantin Brancusi's endless column, has become one of the symbols of the city of Milan.

Drytech designed the waterproofing of all structures below the design water table of the Allianz Isozaki skyscraper in Milan.

Therefore, the fireproof tanks, the plant tunnels, the polyphores and the basements were built with the Drytech Tank System.

The Isozaki Tower, inspired by Constantin Brancusi’s endless column, has become one of the symbols of the city. Designed by the Japanese architect Arada Isozaki together with the Italian architect Andrea Maffei, the skyscraper is the headquarters of Allianz in Italy.

The building, which can accommodate up to 3,800 people, is the tallest skyscraper in Italy by number of floors (50) and according to the highest occupied floor criterion (with its 207 m).

Property: CityLife s.p.a., Milano

Project: Architect Arata Isozaki, Tokyo / Architect Andrea Maffei, Milano

Structure: Prof. Marco Mola, Ing. Michele Cap, Milano / Ing. Francesco Iorio, Bergamo

Works management: In.Pro srl, Torino

Drytech Tank: 7’400 m²

Waterproofing a five-storey underground car park

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Drytech Tank system for the 5 floors of the underground car park of Palazzo Mantegazza, 15 meters from Lake Lugano, in the presence of a water table head of 18.80 metres.

Waterproofing a five-storey underground car park below the level of the lake, with a water table of 18.80 metres.

The underground parking garage of Palazzo Mantegazza in Lugano was built on the lakeshore underwater, using the hanging formwork technique: after the completion of the diaphragm walls, the ground floor slab is cast, leaving openings through which excavation is carried out down to the level of slab -1.

Then the formwork already used for the zero slab is lowered and, once it has reached level -1, the new slab is cast on it. And so on up to the bed, at level -5.

The walls of the Drytech Tank are made directly against the diaphragm, obtaining both the lining and the wall itself in a single casting.

Project: Camponovo Architetti & Associati, Breganzona

Structure: Studio Ingg. Mantegazza e Cattaneo, Sorengo

Construction: Garzoni SA, Lugano

Drytech Tank: 6’600 m²

Waterproofing recycled concrete basement

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A building that produces environment.

Waterproofing the recycled concrete basement of an environmentally friendly building in Stabio.

The Shield is the new frontier in construction, extending the concept of sustainability to the regeneration of biodiversity, establishing an active and osmotic connection with the context.

The Scudo di Stabio by architect Giuseppe Rossi is Minergie-P-ECO certified and is the first residential building in Ticino built according to the Swiss Sustainable Construction Standard (SNBS 2.0 BUILDING – GOLD certified). For the innovative choices that characterize it, it was selected among the finalists of the Active House Awards 2022 in the Netherlands.

A sustainability that starts from the volumetric compactness of the structure, functional to the energy efficiency of the building. The construction consists of two systems. The first, in recycled reinforced concrete, concerns the basement, the ground floor and the central distribution volume.

The other consists of the two wooden macro-volumes, dedicated to the apartments distributed over two floors. Vitro-photovoltaic tiles are set on the suggestive cork roof: a renewable energy production system that combines functionality and design and makes the building self-sufficient.

The project also involved the outdoor spaces, planted with native hedges that attract birdlife with berries and acorns.

The vocation for dialogue with the context is also expressed through the promotion of shared and green mobility, thanks to the availability of electric bicycles and car parks with charging stations for cars.

General contractor: Luca Bolzani, Mendrisio

Project: Arch. Giuseppe Rossi, Mendrisio

Structure: Eng. Roberto Mondada, Balerna

Construction: Garzoni, Lugano

Drytech Tank: 260 m2

Waterproofing below the lake

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The symbiosis between the Hotel Il Sereno di Torno and Lake Como began right from the laying of the first stone. The design hotel has literally risen from the waters of the Lario.

For the waterproofing of the rooms below the lake level and the swimming pool of the hotel Il Sereno in Torno, Drytech Tank waterproof structures were built with construction materials that arrived on site via barge.

The symbiosis between the Hotel Il Sereno di Torno and Lake Como began right from the laying of the first stone. The design hotel has literally risen from the waters of the Lario.

The charming country road that leads to the hotel is in fact not passable by heavy vehicles, so all the material for the construction arrived by lake on board barges.

The dominus of this complex construction site was the architect Fabio Curcio Valentini, construction manager and coordinator of the architectural project of Patricia Urquiola, who also created the contemporary interior design of the Luxury Hotel.

The construction was consolidated with poles placed in the water, and the area dedicated to the technical systems was obtained by digging into the granite rock without using explosives, up to a depth of seven meters below the level of the lake and creating the waterproof structures with the Drytech Tank system.

The old dock was incorporated into the new building of four floors above ground and two underground floors.

The lake-front wing towards Como hosted the underground garage and the heated outdoor swimming pool, also a Drytech tank and covered in Brazilian karst stone.

Project and Interior Design: Architetto Patricia Urquiola, Milano

Works management: Architetto Fabio Curcio Valentini, Como

Garden Design: Patrick Blanc, Parigi

Structure: Studio Faber, Parma

Construction: Costruzioni Carboncini & C., Lomazzo – Setten Genesio, Oderzo

Drytech Tank: 4’335 m²

Waterproofing concrete cast into the water

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There are only two ways to build a waterproof structure directly in water: either the classic double tank, or the single tank of the Drytech Tank technology.

Waterproofing with the Drytech Tank system of concrete underground structures cast directly into the water, below the lake level.

There are only two ways to build a waterproof structure directly in water: either the classic double tank, or the single tank of the Drytech Tank technology.

The undergrounds of the Villa Branca Residence in Melide, on the banks of the Ceresio, were built with this system.

A luxurious crescent consisting of 16 apartments and 5 penthouses, with terraces, roof gardens, whirlpools and parking below the lake level.

In addition to allowing underwater installation, the Drytech tank ensured compliance with the internal volumes envisaged in the project, being a single waterproof concrete structure.

Drytech Engineering has defined the recipe for waterproof underwater concrete. As the casting matured, the construction details were waterproofed with the injection of DRYflex resin, effective despite the presence of water outside the new tanks.

Client: Chiancianesi & Longoni, Pregassona

Project: Archiconsult SA, Lugano on behalf of Marco Chiancianesi and Daniele Longoni with the architectural supervision of Source Project Manager SA

Structure: Ing. Alessio Casanova, Pazzallo

Company: PromEng SA, Lugano Besso

Drytech Tank: 2,900 m²