Concrete is the cornerstone of our built environment. Utilised as the base of our buildings, it remains imperative that the concrete remains structurally intact and secure for the entirety of its lifecycle. Durability equals sustainability, and in a world of reduced emissions and minimal maintenance, durable concrete is crucial.
Markham’s tagline of adding life to concrete underpins the operations of the company. Founded nearly three decades ago, Markham is focused on superb curing and eliminating chloride and contamination from concrete to prolong the lifespan of the material.
The company offers an end-to-end service and works with architects to create ideal outcomes for projects, most notably the future Western Sydney Airport and New South Wales and Queensland’s Metro train stations, as well as the future John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. Notable practices, including Cox and BVN, have worked in conjunction with Markham, underlining its credibility.
“Architects are now having to ensure that their specifications are basically airtight. There's a lot of off the shelf products out there that don’t provide the durability of our catalogue,” says Markham’s Design and Delivery Specification Team Leader, Alex Portelli.
“We aim for a concept chat which evolves into a discovery meeting. We then go through a project and outline our systems as per their design requirements and design our floor tech TECT systems into the build.”
The subject of constant research and development, all of Markham’s products are Green Star certified by the Green Building Council of Australia. The company also offers a completely sustainable arm of products, which focus on waterproofing and workability. Colloidal silica is sourced from Geothermal Residue post volcanic activity in New Zealand, which is then transformed into a range of products that reduce material consumption.
“We fit our products into a project, we manufacture, give design advice, install, and performance warrant our TECT systems,” Portelli says.
“We’re an end-to-end service. We’ve moved our systems away from specific products, if that makes sense and evolved them into TECT systems. So we offer six TECT systems all the way from subgrade, basement waterproofing, up to rooftop podium slabs or concrete roofs and everything in between.”
Portelli says working with architects is key to ensuring built environment professionals are aware of the benefits of utilising durable products with little requirement for maintenance.
“The education that we have to do is that we're a permanent treatment within the structure. Once we've done the treatment, there's no need for remediation, there's no need to go back, there's no need to fix it,” he concludes.
For more information, visit markhamglobal.com.
