A new digitally enhanced smart office building in London has been protected with the award-winning FIRETEX FX6002 coating from Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings.
The project, 33 Charterhouse Street in London, was the first in the UK to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating for the design stage under BREEAM, the world’s longest established and leading scheme for assessing, rating and certifying the sustainability of buildings.
The sustainability measures adopted on the development reduce the embodied carbon through a variety of measures including low-carbon materials such as Earth-friendly cement-free concrete, solar PV panels and a biodiverse green roof. Sited opposite the future Museum of London, the 200,000 sq. ft scheme provides over 10 floors of technology-enhanced office space, featuring an integrated digital platform that will improve the building’s operational efficiency.
Winner of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation, FIRETEX FX6002 can be applied off-site, enabling paint applicators to transport steelwork in a matter of hours rather than days, which means less downtime, fewer bottlenecks and faster project completion.
Marios Antoniades, Associate Director – Structures Lead for main contractor Mace, said: ‘For us, having a product that turns up on site as close to how it left the factory was a massive part of the choice. Not only does this save man hours on site repairs, it reduces the amount of paint being used on site thus allowing faster progression of handovers to follow on trades.
‘In addition, the final product required a lot less repair before leaving the factory which contributes to a much better aesthetic finish for even a ‘basic’ finish. With more projects having exposed soffits to reduce carbon footprint, the higher quality finish is something that convinced Mace to push for FX6002.’
Pavlos Clifton, Senior Development Executive at asset owner Helical, said: ‘As well as the programme and man hour benefits, the low VOC emissions of the FIRETEX FX6002 made it an obvious choice in an exposed ceiling solution where air quality is such a priority for prospective tenants.’
FIRETEX FX6002 can be applied direct to metal without the need for a primer or topcoat in some environments whilst retaining the highest levels of durability.
With up to 120 minutes’ fire protection and long-term corrosion protection to the steelwork, the benefits are being felt throughout supply chain, with the application of FX6002 making it possible for steel sections to be coated and shipped in one day as opposed to one week in the same circumstances.
Projects using fire-protection coatings delivered by Sherwin-Williams in EMEAI include London’s The Shard, Azerbaijan’s Flame Towers and the Leadenhall Building, known as The Cheesegrater. FIRETEX FX6002 is also being used an intumescent coating of choice on steel buildings throughout Europe.
FIRETEX FX6002 can be used on a diverse range of steel section types and for different fire protection scenarios as opposed to other options. For more information see the Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine website
