Location | Belfry Hotel, Sutton Coldfield |
|---|---|
Designer / Architect | EPR Architects |
Contractor | Elliott Group Ltd |
Concrete Producer: | Tarmac |
The background
The Club is a flagship leisure and wellness facility at The Belfry Hotel & Resort — one of the UK’s most iconic golf and hospitality venues, located near Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands. Spanning 4,000 m² across two levels, this landmark development is central to The Belfry’s multi-million-pound investment in its resort facilities. The Club is designed to set a new benchmark for resort wellness, offering guests a premium leisure experience that reinforces The Belfry’s reputation as one of Europe’s leading hospitality destinations.
The challenge
The facility houses two distinct aquatic zones: a 25-meter, competition-standard lap pool and a large family leisure pool with an integrated flume. Both pools are below ground level within reinforced-concrete construction, requiring a fully effective waterproofing strategy from the outset. A robust Type B integral waterproofing system was required to guarantee permanently dry internal conditions. Given the project’s prestige, the solution had to be simple to specify and construct, independently verifiable, and backed by a long-term product warranty — providing confidence for both the client and the design team.
Our solution
MasterLife WP 799 is a hydrophobic waterproofing concrete admixture that was incorporated into all concrete elements of the pool structures. It was added via soluble sachets at the batching plant into the concrete truck mixer. The concrete was supplied by Tarmac and placed by personnel from Elliott Group.
MasterLife WP 799 lines the capillary pore structure of the hardened concrete with a hydrophobic layer, dramatically reducing water absorption and transmission through the matrix. This creates a waterproof barrier that is integral to the structure itself.
Unlike surface-applied membrane systems, MasterLife WP 799 cannot delaminate, puncture, or be damaged during backfilling operations, making it an ideal choice for below-ground pool construction.
The solution was specified in accordance with BS 8102:2022 guidance for Type B (integral) protection and is supported by Master Builders Solutions comprehensive technical and warranty package.
