Dnipro Creates a New Urban City Center – with PENETRON Technology

The December 2018 inauguration of the colossal Bartolomeo Resort Town on the banks of the Dnieper River in Dnipro, Ukraine, highlighted many superlatives for the size of the development and the modern amenities offered. Penetron crystalline technology ensures the good life will last for a long time.

The Bartolomeo Resort Town complex is located in Dnipro, the country’s fourth largest city with approximately one million inhabitants. It was once renowned as the high-tech “Rocket City,” a center of rocket and missile development for the Soviet Union. Since Ukrainian independence in 1991, the city has become the motor of economic development for the country and also the hometown to many of its leading politicians.

The new Bartolomeo Resort Town was designed by Ricardo Bofill, a well-known Spanish architect and head of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. The project is a sprawling residential development of five buildings – each 25-floors tall with underground parking garages – along the banks of the Dnieper River in Dnipro. Stretching over 5.5 hectares (14 acres), the development encompasses 1,350 modern apartments – each between 43-141 m² (475-1,550 square feet) in size.

Essentially a self-contained village, the Bartolomeo Resort Town development has fitness gyms, spa zones, swimming pools in the residential areas, and integrates kindergartens, restaurants and cafes, pharmacies, modern supermarkets, medical centers and even a yacht club throughout the complex. Fronted by a white sand beach on the Dnieper River, an extensive green park with bike and walking paths surrounds the back side of the site.
 

Creating an Absolutely Secure Foundation

Faced with the riverside location and the resulting high groundwater levels, Streitel-P, the project contractor, needed an absolutely surefire waterproofing solution to build the extensive below-grade structures beneath each residential tower. 

“The Bartolomeo development is a showcase project for the city of Dnipro and Ukraine,” notes Maxim Khodakovsky, Director of Waterproofing Services and the Penetron representative in the Kharkov/Dnipropetrovsk region. “We’ve used Penetron crystalline technology successfully in many previous residential and commercial projects in Ukraine. As it turned out, it was the ideal waterproofing solution for the Bartolomeo Resort Town, too.”

The technical advisors at Waterproofing Services worked with the project’s chief designer, Alexander Shapoval, to come up with a solution based on Penetron crystalline technology. For the initial phase of construction alone, over 3000 m³ of concrete were treated with PENETRON ADMIX, including the foundation slabs of the first 25-story tower and the underground parking garage.
 

Permanent Concrete Protection – and Self-healing Capability

Easily mixed in during batching and unaffected by climatic conditions, PENETRON ADMIX becomes an integral part of the concrete matrix and is permanent, lasting for the life of the concrete and providing a self-healing capability that ensures any cracks that appear later on will be sealed. This crystalline admixture is designed to protect concrete in critical environments, like the construction site located on the shores of the Dnieper River.

“As the results from independent tests on concrete samples have shown, concrete treated with PENETRON ADMIX can add up to 60 years of durability when compared to untreated concrete,” says Maxim Khodakovsky.

In addition to PENETRON ADMIX, the project employed PENEBAR SW waterstop to seal all new construction joints and PENECRETE MORTAR for tie-holes. 

“Thanks to the reputation of Penetron’s crystalline technology for reliable concrete waterproofing, the builder was able to save costs and time in the construction schedule,” adds Maxim Khodakovsky.