Case Study — Buried Leak Detection
Parklife Building, Putney
Water was reaching high-end office space from somewhere above — under paving, planters and terraces. A seven-zone electrical field survey told McLaughlin & Harvey exactly where to open up.
Investigate a leak like thisBuilding
Parklife Building, 160 Putney Bridge Road, London — mixed-use with occupied office floors
Client
McLaughlin & Harvey
Service
Buried Leak Location — electrical field mapping, verified by Texplor (EFT®)
The problem
Active water ingress into a high-end fit-out — and nothing visible from below.
The Parklife Building carries a complex roofscape: mixed terraces, paved surfaces and rooftop planters, all directly above occupied office floors. Three separate leaks were confirmed into the office space below. Collection buckets were catching water on the carpet while the fit-out — ceilings, finishes, equipment — remained at risk with every rainfall.
The defect source was not visible from below, and the waterproofing was buried under paving and planting. Opening up on guesswork would have meant lifting expensive hard landscaping across multiple roof areas, with no guarantee of finding anything.
The investigation
Seven test zones, one systematic survey.
Vector ran buried leak detection across seven test zones covering the roof areas and flowerbeds — a 1,200 mm survey grid on the paved roof, tightened to 800 mm on the planters. Tracers were routed directly to the confirmed leak positions inside the building, tying the roof-side survey to the symptoms below. The survey data was independently verified by Texplor, whose EFT® system underpins the method.
The result
One confirmed breach. Two suspect zones. A clear roadmap to fix the roof.
The survey identified one confirmed leak location and two suspect zones — a corner planter and an area of paving — each plotted on the roof plan with a clear next-step recommendation. Instead of stripping terraces speculatively, the client received a defensible, prioritised repair scope: open here, watch there.
“I worked with Vector Projects on the Parklife Building and found their team to be very competent and professional. Their technical expertise was valuable and allowed us to overcome some complex challenges. Their collaboration was proactive, and their dedicated and detailed approach fully supported our intent. I would recommend Vector for future projects as they brought professionalism and expertise to this challenging area.”
A leak under your terraces or planters?
We locate breaches through paving, planting and ballast — to a highly localised area, without strip-out.
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