Flowcrete Flooring Takes Off at Dubai Airport

Jan. 15, 2009 - PRLog -- Flowcrete has added to its portfolio of prestigious projects with a major installation at Dubai International Airport in one of the largest assignments ever undertaken by the company.

A selection of Flowcrete’s specialist systems – including screeds, car park decking, hygienic and fast-track floors - have helped the new Terminal 3 and Concourse 2 developments take off in style. Andrew Gwyther, Managing Director of Flowcrete Middle East, said, “We are very proud to be able to add an installation of this scale at such a high profile facility to our portfolio.”

For the final deck coating in the multi-storey car park, Flowcrete’s flexible waterproof wearing Deckshield system was specified, with some 110,000m2 installed on all five levels, including the exposed top deck. The fully trafficable, polyurethane resin system will help protect the building structure from damage typically encountered by multi-storey structures where structural movement caused by constant traffic flow in and out can lead to eventual  deterioration of the substrate and host concrete.

A further 260,000m2 of Deckshield was installed in other high traffic areas including all service road ways underneath the Terminal Complex (95,000m2), the baggage handling areas (85,000m2) and in all plant rooms (100,000m2). The formulation used is fully UV resistant, with a profiled anti-skid surface helping to minimise tyre squeal and reduce noise pollution.

For the multi-storey car-park facilities, the entire area was first installed with a semi-dry cementitious screed known as K-Screed.  According to Gwyther, conventional screeds such as sand/cement often crack, curl and debond, leading to failure of the final deck coating. “The reduced water content of these cementitious screeds provides added strength and durability eliminating those problems.”

Some 40,000m2 of K-Screed was also installed beneath the external tiles at the passenger setdown area at the Departures Hall.

For the kitchen facilities within the development, Flowcrete provided its Flowfresh system meeting the criteria for durability and ease of cleaning. The seamless polyurethane floor incorporates Polygiene, an anti-microbial agent which utilises the natural purification qualities of silver to deliver round the clock protection against a wide range of bacteria.  

"Over the last three years, Flowcrete Middle East has noticed a significant swing away from tiled floors to seamless systems in aggressive kitchen environments. Our track record of installations at Le Meridien Hotels in Dubai, and for Jumeirah Group and DIFC kitchens gave the Department of Civil Aviation the confidence in selecting Flowcrete," said Gwyther.

A similar system known as Flowfast Quartz was also installed in the cold storage area.

The project is the latest success for Flowcrete in the Middle East and follows the announcement last year of its largest ever contract - involving the installation of Deckshield - at Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers Development. The company also recently secured another large-scale contract in the Emirate, to apply its sound performance system Isocrete Acoustic K at the luxury Fairmont Palm Residence Hotel and Resort, being built within the exclusive Palm Jumeirah Development.

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With 30 offices worldwide and 12 manufacturing plants globally, Flowcrete Group Ltd manufactures an extensive range of specialist flooring for commercial and industrial buildings. In April 2008, Flowcrete Group Ltd became part of RPM International Inc.