Renovation of the “Wanderlust area":

Dry feet through the leisure park

Renovation of the “Wanderlust area":

Dry feet through the leisure park

Redesigned water park

Every year, about one million visitors are drawn to the "Irrland" leisure park in Kevelaer. One of the attractions in the extensive outdoor area is the "wanderlust area". Water plays a major part here. And the AquaDrain HU-EK surface drainage system from Gutjahr provides reliable drainage beneath the laid natural stone slabs during the redesign of the area – and keeps the visitors' feet dry.

The town of Kevelaer on the Lower Rhine became known as a pilgrimage destination. When families now make pilgrimages to this area with their children, the destination is often the “Irrland farm adventure oasis” in the Twisteden district. This theme park has many exotic animal species over an area of about 300,000 square metres, a petting zoo as well as 80 playing and frolicking opportunities. The attractions include the wanderlust area with its "Bird of Paradise" - a converted Transall aircraft - as well as a Roman play mine, palm trees and a water playground with waterfalls and streams flowing around a mountain.

Water playground redesigned

The wanderlust area of the theme park is an intensively used and extremely damp area. This was an important point when the area was redesigned from 2017 onwards. Polygonal slabs made from quartz sandstone, supplied by the Swertz construction centre in neighbouring Geldern, were placed on the previously concreted, 750 square meter area, i.e. the entire play area around the mine. The construction centre asked Sievert Baustoffe GmbH & Co. KG whether they could provide a suitable bedding mortar and technical solutions for the building project.

Thilo Westerwiede, project manager at Sievert, where he is also responsible for the tubag brand, examined the construction project in the theme park. He carried out the initial consultations with the building owners and the experts from Sievert's trading partner Swertz on site, and quickly brought the Gutjahr solutions into play.

The reason for this was that it was clear to him that the concrete surface could not be laid without a drainage mat. An additional drainage level was needed to protect the covering from damage in an area in which a lot of water is played with – ideally a surface drainage mat from Gutjahr.

Long-standing system partnership

Practice has already shown many times that the long-standing system partnership between Gutjahr and tubag products works perfectly.

Partnership in the system

Gutjahr and Sievert companies are linked by a long-standing system partnership. Both companies are aware that tubag products harmonize perfectly with the Gutjahr drainage systems. Thilo Westerwiede von Sievert then had an on-site meeting with Karl Ambrosius, the owner of a gardening and landscaping company based in Kevelaer who was commissioned to lay the covering and Gutjahr consultant Josef Hillmer, who agreed on the construction project together and decided to use the AquaDrain HU-EK drainage mat. The requirement was to channel the water penetrating into the surface via the drainage mortar from tubag into the drainage system, and then divert it in accordance with the built-in substrate fall – and AquaDrain HU-EK fulfils this requirement perfectly.

Natural stone reliably drained

The major challenge when laying natural stone outdoors is that backwater looks for a way upwards - even through a 25 cm thick bed of gravel, as shown by Gutjahr research. The drainage specialist compared two structures to do this: with and without a drainage mat. And the result was clear. “In the case of construction without a drain mat, the seepage water has completely migrated upwards via the gravel base layer and the drainage mortar, which led to moisture stains in the natural stone, ”says Gutjahr managing director Ralph Johann. On the other hand, the bonded bedding and the covering of the construction with the AquaDrain HU-EK drainage mat remained dry. The anti-capillary AquaDrain HU-EK drainage mat prevents backwater from being transported to the surface and damaging to the covering due to frost damage, efflorescence or moisture stains, for example. "In this way, high-quality natural stone is protected in the same way as ceramic coverings, which can also be processed on AquaDrain HU-EK," explains Ralph Johann.

Invisible and effective

The Gutjahr system has been though out down to the last detail. The mesh is the only one on the market with a long-term suitability certificate, for example. This means that it remains permanently water-permeable and does not clog because of the soluble lime in the drainage mortar. Unlike conventional dimpled membranes, AquaDrain HU-EK is also perforated on the underside. This prevents seepage water from accumulating on the film on an uneven surface. AquaDrain HU-EK also supports the entire covering. Because of this, the drainage channels form a defined cavity, and the water can run away quickly and effectively. Another plus: AquaDrain HU-EK is suitable for drive-over coverings which can withstand up to 3.5 tonnes.

Impressive 143 tonnes of bedding mortar

The Swertz construction centre delivered 143 tons of tubag's TDM Trass drainage mortar for the construction site in the theme park as loose goods in a silo. The tradespeople also used the MDS mineral sealing slurries, the TNH-flex Trass natural stone adhesive slurries and the PFH cement-bound paving joint mortar from the Sievert quick-mix and tubag brands for covering with the quartz sandstone polygonal slabs.

The work was divided into different construction phases. After a total construction period of about two years, the project was completed as planned in mid-2019. The client was extremely satisfied and had no complaints. And if your feet get wet again in the wanderlust area of the Irrland theme park, it's not because of the drainage under the natural stone slabs which have been laid – the children have simply had a very nice day.