World of Concrete 2013 wrapped up last Friday in Las Vegas, after four tremendous days of concrete exhibitions, seminars, luncheons and many other events. It is already the largest tradeshow event in the concrete industry, and this year Hanley Wood confirms that attendance was up 5.3% over 2012, at a whopping 54,869 attendees.

The show got off to a great start for us, with two of our projects winning awards. One of them was Torrent Shotcrete.

Torrent Shotcrete, from Coquitlam BC, was awarded the American Shotcrete Association (ASA) Outstanding Project of the Year for Infrastructure (2012) for their outstanding work on the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens Visitors Centre. The building is state-of-the-art, and one of the first of its kind in Canada, with an impressive list of high-tech features as well as cutting-edge architectural design. It is also a LEED platinum building, with features such as a green roof and geo-thermal and solar energy.

Torrent Shotcrete confidently took on this challenge, and were aware that they needed a LEED-friendly, flexible and long-term waterproofing solution for the walls. They needed to be finished products, and did not allow for paints or sealers on either side of the structure. When you add Krystol Internal Membrane to Torrent’s shotcrete, the shotcrete becomes more plastique and allows for a higher-end architectural finish. For these reasons, Kryton’s KIM was ideal for this project.