Tamarama, Sydney

Tamarama is a beachside, eastern suburb of Sydney,  affectionately nicknamed Glamourama where the seriously beautiful and trend setters come to sunbathe, swim or just to be seen. Tamarama has a small
but perfectly formed ocean beach located about 1 km south of the world famous Bondi Beach and a couple
of hundred metres north of Bronte Beach.

The architects, Studio GA, wanted to make best use of the long narrow site and designed a two level warm pitched roof, insulating above the rafters with Dow Deckmate Styrofoam™, thus using the loft space to maximum effect with large windowed gable ends looking out towards the Pacific Ocean.

Proctor Roofshield and ProctorWrap HP were selected as the roofing and wall underlays due to their high vapour permeability. The membranes provide temporary waterproofing during construction and a secondary water-proofing layer for the life of the building preventing moisture ingress into the structure from wind driven rain. 

Unlike non vapour permeable foil sarking products Roofshield and ProctorWrap HP permit the free passage of vapour through the building envelope without the risk of interstitial condensation.

As well as being the most breathable products on the market with a 20 year track record globally, they are manufactured from 100% recyclable Polypropylene meaning they will not be subject to deterioration from corrosion.

Through regulation and customers demands for energy efficient homes there is a greater recognition of the need for increased use of insulation. The use of insulation should not be seen in isolation and architects are also starting to carefully consider how the addition of one element into the building envelope can have a knock on effect on where, when and for how long dew point is reached within the building envelope.

The consequent risk of interstitial condensation can result in an unseen build up over a period of time until the problem becomes apparent though either structural degradation or health problems for residents due to mould. 

The need for vapour permeable underlays became apparent in Europe in the late 1970s & 1980s when homes started to be insulated. More recently, North America has been going through an expensive learning process where the building industry spends an estimated $9 billion each year on repairs and litigation damages from water and moisture related issues.

Proctor Group Australia offers a service to architects including condensation risk analysis at the early design stage using independent software built up from a long experience in the diagnoses and prevention of vapour control related problems.