November 7, 2019
PENETRON Technology Helps Mixed-Use Malden Center Meet Deadline
Lightweight option: LEVELINE LITE, a self-leveling underlayment from PSP, is a lighter weight underlayment that met the construction guidelines of the Malden Center project.
A new town center: Jefferson at Malden Center is a mixed-use development with office space and street-level shops, restaurants, and 320 apartments – with floors built with PSP technology.
Ideal weight: 30-40% lighter than conventional underlayments, LEVELINE LITE is an ideal solution for interior applications where standard levelers or concrete exceed allowable dead loads.
The October 2019 inauguration of the Jefferson at Malden Center project recreates a vibrant city center for Malden, MA. The mixed-use development initially presented a construction challenge, which was successfully met with the use of LEVELINE LITE, a quick-setting and lightweight self-leveling flooring underlayment from Penetron Specialty Products (PSP).
“The Jefferson at Malden Center has totally transformed downtown Malden,” explains Bob Baumeister, PSP Product & Technical Support Specialist. “The town center has become very attractive for new residents. It provides excellent infrastructure for public transportation connections to downtown Boston, created new locations for small businesses – and has remarkable views of the Boston skyline.”
Designed by CBT Architects, an international architecture and urban design firm based in Boston, the Jefferson at Malden Center is a mixed-use development with 320 residential apartments, 45,000 square feet of office space – the new Malden City Hall – and over 22,500 square feet (2,045 m2) of street-level retail space for shops and restaurants. Residential amenities for the 320 apartment units include a fitness center, yoga room, solarium, club lounge, conference space, and gaming areas, along with an outdoor pool, pool decks, fire pit and lawn areas.
Looking for a Lightweight Solution
“Once construction of the multi floor mixed use buildings was completed, the engineers at Callahan Construction, the project contractor, were confronted with clear weight limits on the upper floors,” adds Bob Baumeister. “They asked Applied Options Construction, the specialists contracted to prepare the concrete slabs for finished flooring, to come up with a solution.”
Joe Barnard, Project Manager at Applied Options Construction, was familiar with PSP’s self-leveling products, he and reached out to PSP for a solution. “We had success with the LEVELINE LITE self-leveling underlayment from PSP in previous projects, and I was certain this lighter weight underlayment would meet the Malden Center project guidelines.”
Achieving a Much Lower Load Weight
With footage around 3,000 square feet (280 m2), the load weight limit of the upper floors at the Malden Center was due to the thickness, which was around 1-½” average. At 30-40% lighter than conventional underlayments, LEVELINE LITE is an ideal underlayment for interior applications where standard levelers or concrete exceed allowable dead loads. Suitable as the final substrate for finished flooring, it can be installed from 1/4” to 2” (0.6-5.1 cm) in a single lift or up to 6” (15 cm) in multiple lifts. It can be featheredged, it will not shrink or crack, and it has properties identical to standard LEVELINE underlayments, but at a much lower load weight.
“Once LEVELINE LITE was applied, the finished flooring could be installed less than a day later, which helped the project maintain the original schedule, despite adapting to the weight limits,” adds Bob Baumeister. “It turned out to be the perfect lightweight underlayment to make an uneven floor flat and level.”
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