A truly international flavour this month as our round up of flooring applications takes us from ice skating in Dubai and treading the boards in Wales to the Olympic pool in Beijing
A. Because it’s cool
Accurate, efficient and fast concrete placement was vital during construction of this Olympic-sized ice skating rink at the Dubai Mall in the Burj Dubai tower. Canadian ice rink supplier CIMCO recommended the use of PowerRake and CopperHead XD 2.0 Laser Screed machines from Chesterfield-based Somero to complete the tricky work. Somero is not new to the region. It also worked on the Dubai Maritime City project at Port Rashid where it laid more than 90,000m2 of concrete floors for concrete frame buildings being erected for local contractor Amana.
When complete in 2009 the 800m-high Burj Dubai tower will become the world’s tallest freestanding structure.
B. Because it’s bubbly
Bolidtop Bubblebar might sound like an unusual brand of chewing gum, but it is in fact a special type of flooring installed in the VIP bar at the Olympic swimming pool in Beijing. Designed by Holland-based Bolidt Topsynthetics in collaboration with Chinese architect Jiwei Li, the floor blends seamlessly with the unique architecture of the ‘water cube’, whose structure takes on the form of giant soap bubbles.
C. Because it makes an entrance
An impressive school building boasting a variety of teaching spaces and classrooms, Thomas Deacon Academy in Peterborough needed robust entrance matting to cope with the hundreds of children entering and leaving the building. Architect Foster & Partners’ solution was to install hard-wearing Emco Kadett BM roll-up matting in five separate entrance areas, including the main reception. Specifically designed for covered entrance areas that are particularly susceptible to soiling, the plastic matting allows dirt and particles of grit to fall between ribs to ensure a non-slip surface. Kadett matting was also specified for the Foster & Partners-designed Folkestone Academy, opened last September, and the Corby Academy, due to open in September 2008.
D. Because it makes good theatre
When the Arad Goch Theatre Company outgrew its premises in Aberystwyth and an adjacent building became available for purchase, a major project to develop a new contemporary theatre began. As part of architect James Jenkins Thomas’ plans to combine the two buildings with a new extension at the rear, Cemex’s ReadyFloor Beam and Block flooring was installed by main contractor, Llanelli-based WRW Construction, to support a multi-tier retractable seating system. Prestressed ReadyFloor concrete beams were first laid onto structural steelwork (pictured here from below) and then infilled with standard building blocks to provide a strong, well insulated and acoustically efficient structure. With work now complete, Arad Goch can truly ‘tread the boards’.
E. Because it’s massive
When you’re pouring the UK’s largest-ever steel fibre reinforced concrete floor, you need to know that the concrete will keep coming. Industrial flooring specialist Twintec poured the 250,000m2 floor slab, equivalent to 41 football pitches, for a Tesco warehouse in Scotland built by main contractor Taylor Woodrow. Lafarge Cement supplied a whopping 13,000 tonnes of cement – in daily deliveries of 250 tonnes – from its nearby Dunbar works, which on-site batching firm Sitebatch Technologies used to produce up to 70m3 per hour.
Source
Construction Manager
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