"green applications resources sustainability"

Hinchley Wood School in Esher, Surrey is a mixed comprehensive academy, providing education for 11-18-year olds. They tasked Hush with a project to improve acoustic comfort in their sports hall following the success of a previous project to install Hush Absorber Panels within their canteen in 2016.Mike Robeson, Director of Finance and resources at the school, contacted us regarding their purpose-built Sports Hall in which they were experiencing severe reverberation issues. The Sports Hall has been in use for many years to carry out PE lessons and other sporting activities, along with being used as an Examination Hall.When being used for exams, the school were having to temporarily lay a carpet on the floor to dampen the sounds within the hall, hoping to create a calming and relaxing atmosphere with minimal echoes. However, this was unsatisfactory, and they sought an effective long term solution.When conducted a site visit which enabled us to measure the Sports Hall to be 8.5m in height, 27m in length and 18 m wide. The ceiling area features metal trunking around it and measures 486 sq. m in total. We calculated that 230.4 sq. m would need to be acoustically treated.In order to effectively treat the reverberation issues within the area, we specified 192x 50mm Hush Absorber panels to make the hall acoustically fit for purpose and they would need to be directly bonded to the metal deck.The panels that we supplied the school were from our new Polysorb range, in which the product itself is made from polyester as opposed to foam, giving equally excellent acoustic results. We also supplied these panels with a hard face material, to be damage protected from any equipment which may make its way up to the ceiling.The Polysorb panels are manufactured from 100% recyclable Polyester, in which a minimum of 45% is from post consumer waste PET (Plastic Bottles). The panels have been designed for exceptional sound absorption qualities, whilst being light-weight, impact resistant and durable. These panels can also be cut to any required size and finished in your chosen design.We allowed 5 working days to be able to fit the panels and were able to finish within 4. Whilst installing them, we also rescued 12 footballs and a whole host of shuttlecocks from the ceiling area!We are pleased to have been able to help the school with their reverberation issues and to make a positive impact on the pupils learning, as well as making for a more appropriate and less noisy exam hall.

Lucent W1 is a high profile mixed-use building comprising 111,000 sqft of CAT Acommercial space, 30,000 sqft of retail space and seven new residential units in WestLondon. The development is built with sustainability at its core, including a BREEAM‘Excellent’ rating and pending Gold WELL accreditation.The design of the building, behind the famous Piccadilly lights, meant that traditionalinstallation methods could not be used while maintaining the fire separation wall. Thisconstraint meant building could only commence from one side and required a newsolution. We designed bespoke wind posts and cut the boards to the exact anglesrequired so that they could be fitted from one side only. Combined with Specwall’sinherent firestopping properties, this made us the perfect choice to solve the designissues at Lucent W1.

Inhabitants of Abu Dhabi have a safe and sustainably-built oasis right at the heart of the city! This awe-inspiring playground was designed to offer an exciting experience for children and families. It also encourages endless physical activity, essential for development and growth.An Oasis of Fun for Children and FamiliesLocated south of the famous Corniche near Arabia’s iconic Gulf coastline, this remarkable project serves as a reminder that even in high-density cities there is still room to create recreational areas surrounded by natural beauty — where young minds grow through inspiring playtime adventures!The family park was part of the Ghadan 21 initiative for the Department of Municipalities and Transport and it was supplied by our local partner Gebal Group. Cubic is the perfect choice to stand out in the Abu Dhabi skyline and the result is a modern playground, which has been featured also in many YouTube videos.

A residential home in Enfield, London, was extended out the back of the property and charred Accoya wood was the chosen material for the cladding. Innovative architects, Studio Hatcham, specified charred Accoya wood to make the extension distinguishable yet sensitive, enhancing the existing grey brickwork, rather than overshadowing it. The Accoya was treated using a charring technique, taking the wood from its originally light colour to a darker, burnt effect. The cladding was charred in three varying shades, creating depth to the extension; light brush “Shizen”, Graphite “Seizo” and Anthracite “Gen no”. For the posts, a deep black effect was chosen to define and accentuate, in particular, the large glass opening of the extension into the back garden. Despite charring the wood, Accoya remains durable and stable with a 50-year warranty against rot. This alongside its great sustainability credentials, made it the perfect choice for this extension.

The ChallengeLocated in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, Foundry Gardens is a development of two to five-bedroomed housing. It was important that this relatively low-density scheme fit the traditional vernacular of the area.The SolutionChelsea Smoked Red brick was chosen and used alongside white boarding and tile. The white boarding element has been used to emphasis corner and key buildings, detailing porches and canopies.Chelsea Smoked Red brick is a red, stock thrown, wire cut brick by Ecostock, the most sustainable stock brick available in the UK. It is a high quality facing brick with recycled content. The range carries BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing certification.The BenefitsThe choice of brick helps the development to seamlessly fuse the traditional with the contemporary.The project won the Large House Builder category at the Brick Development Association’s annual Brick Awards 2018.

Valette Square is a community of 33 mixed 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms townhouses with private gardens and terraces, built in Salford’s historic centre. Developed by @buttressarchitects , it was designed to introduce new homes to the area, create easy links to nearby areas and for community spaces to exist where possible.The area is named after Pierre Adolphe Valette – a French impressionist who taught the local painter L.S Lowry, and taught at the Manchester Municipal School of Art. The local existing Georgian aesthetics were echoed in the development with Floren’s Brunello bricks being selected for their tones and subtlety, leaning towards nearby red brick buildings.Amongst numerous sustainable efforts, the townhouses’ façade and positioning make the most of natural daylight to reduce the amount of artificial lighting needed, improved insulation and smart heating systems.Valette Square was shortlisted for the Housing Design Award in 2020

In May 2014, the “Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre” was opened at the northern entrance to the “Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park”, marking the conclusion of the sustainable development of the former London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sports venues on the Eton Manor site. Today, the sports centre is the headquarters of the English hockey umbrella organisation, ‘England Hockey’, as well as an important training centre for the “Lawn Tennis Association”. The hockey pitches are fitted with Polytan’s Poligras artificial turf system and therefore meet the highest professional standards, as shown by the fact that they were chosen as the venue for the European Hockey Championships in August 2015. Participants played on a synthetic turf system with an unusual design: A Union Jack was incorporated into the border of the London Blue pitch using red and white patches. In conjunction with the high-quality and modern architecture, the hockey and tennis centre therefore now has a supremely stylish appearance.

All.co Group is an industrial group established in Pisa (Italy) in 1973 by the Vecoli family. Over more than 47 years, the All.co brand has developed into a synonym for aluminium profile systems that meet the highest standards. Since its establishment in 1973, All.co S.p.A has been a leader in the aluminium extrusion industry design, developing and creating aluminium section bars of any shape, in total harmony with the needs of the customers. The products offered by All.co cover a wide range of applications, starting from the building sector, with over 50 patented systems. The Company boasts full coverage of Italy, a very strong presence in Europe and some other countries around the world. All.co’s exacting technological standards, rigorous system considerations, and the quality manufacture of all products, as well as comprehensive services and technical support, have all made a significant contribution to the success of the brand.CUSTOMISED PAINT PROCESSThe powders applied on all All.co products are Syntha Pulvin® polyesters specifically designed for the architectural sector, which are Qualicoat and GSB International approved. Thanks to the joint efforts of Inver and All.co, the company can offer different finishes and effects while maintaining a high-quality standard. These skills have helped to establish the firm on both the building and industrial market as well as expanding the application sectors of its products – which currently include road, naval, and air transport. Today’s market requires attention to detail and very high-quality levels, even in industries where a lot less attention used to be paid to possible defects and imperfections, such as the building one. Now, not only quality must be high, but suppliers must also be able to cope with the most diverse requests in terms of colours and finishes.All.co performs 4 to 6 colour change operations per day and Sherwin-Williams is the ideal supplier able to guarantee versatility and expertise. All.co’s activity is certified according to the international quality standard ISO 9001 and the environmental standard ISO 14001, and their pre-treatment phase is Qualicoat Seaside certified. During production, samples of each colour are taken, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the coating cycle. Then they perform the tests required by the certification – scratch, impact, tear-off, and bending tests – as well as a salt spray test to ensure a 1000-hour resistance value. Sherwin-Williams plans to further strengthen the collaboration with All.co and offer to the Italian market an added value for conventional products, that is, better performing powders.

Prepping decking with PrepdeckAfter cleaning their decking with bleach and removing any loose or flaking bits from the surface, our customer then used our professional stripper, Prepdeck to remove the old stain from their decking.Our customer applied Prepdeck in small areas that he could complete in 15-30 minutes, then, after leaving it to do its magic, used a stiff nylon brush to ‘lift’ the stain from the wood, ensuring that they worked in the direction of the grain.They then thoroughly rinsed the product off the decking using a garden hose – again, working in the direction of the grain.If you want to make this part of the job a little easier, you could opt for hot water instead.This is a great product, as it can also be diluted to make a powerful cleaner for weathered woods and can even be used on thermo (burnt) wood.Next neutralise with Net-trolThe customer then used our wood cleaner Net-trol to neutralise the surface of the decking, in preparation for the finish.After applying Net-Trol to the wet decking, they scrubbed the surface with a brush.They then left it to stand for around 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it to ensure that the surface of the decking didn’t dry.If it had begun to dry, he would have had to dampen it with a mist of water.They then scrubbed the decking again, this time whilst rinsing it.Now, it was just a matter of leaving the wood to dry for 48 hours before applying the finish.Choose a finish to protect your deckingThis customer opted for Aquadecks, our water-based penetrating finish. One of the great things about this product is that not only does it protect the wood from warping, splitting, cracking and UV damage, it is also easy to apply and maintain, as our highly penetrative formula guarantees there will be no peeling or flaking.Plus, it dries quickly and has a low odour, so you can be back on your decking with a glass of wine in hand, in no time at all.Our customer applied an initial coat of Aquadecks and allowed it to penetrate into the wood. Then, after around 15-20 minutes (when the ‘wet look’ of the first application had disappeared), they applied a second application and allowed this to penetrate.After a further 15 minutes, they brushed out any puddles so that the decking wouldn’t dry with shiny spots on the surface. Aquadeck’s place is in the wood, not on top of it!“Very pleased with all products purchased.”This customer was so delighted with our products, they got in touch to tell us how well everything had gone.“On advice gratefully received from Ken I had several stages to complete. It’s looking great and I am hopeful the results will last”, he continued.For more information on Aquadecks, please click here.

Owatrol Oil is a product that wears many hats; it is a rust inhibitor, a paint conditioner and it also helps adhesion of finishes.Owatrol Oil is a versatile, highly penetrating air drying oil and when used as a rust inhibitor, it provides a tough, flexible finish, driving out excess moisture and air; displacing it from rusted metal, stopping rust from doing any more damage.Using Owatrol Oil as a rust inhibitorOwatrol Oil penetrates deep, through the rusted metal to the good metal underneath, isolating it and protecting it from further rusting.As it is a penetrating oil it can be used directly on the rusted surfaces. However, be sure to remove any loose flaking rust, paint, grease or any other contaminants before applying Owatrol Oil.ApplicationUsing Owatrol Oil on new clean steelFirst prime new steel with a mix of 1 part Owatrol Oil to 3 parts primer. Then follow with normal paint system adding Owatrol Oil to subsequent coats as directed under ‘Mixing instructions’ on the Owatrol Oil product page.Using Owatrol Oil on lightly rusted surfacesFirst prime the surface with a mix of 1 part Owatrol Oil to 2 parts primer. Then follow with normal paint system adding Owatrol Oil to subsequent coats as directed under ‘Mixing instructions’ on the Owatrol Oil product page.Using Owatrol Oil on new unpainted rusty steelFirst prime the surface with a mix of 1 part Owatrol Oil to 1 part Primer. Then follow with normal paint system adding Owatrol Oil to subsequent coats as directed under ‘Mixing instructions’ on the Owatrol Oil product page.Using Owatrol Oil on old, severely rusted or previously coated surfacesApply wet on wet applications of Owatrol Oil to all exposed rust until fully saturated and allow it to dry.Saturation is indicated by a uniform glossy appearance to the surface when Owatrol Oil is dry.Before Owatrol Oil has hardened, check the surfaces and remove rust scale and old paint loosened by the above. If needed, touch up these areas.Allow to dry.Next, apply a mix of 1 part Owatrol Oil to 2 parts primer and allow to dry. Then follow with normal paint system adding Owatrol Oil to subsequent coats as directed under ‘Mixing instructions’ on the Owatrol Oil product page.Note: Owatrol Oil will not lift well bonded paint.

Basildon & Thurrock University HospitalBauder Total Roof System (BTRS) and LiquiTEC cold applied waterproofing systemSynopsisBasildon and Thurrock University Hospital’s existing roof was failing in multiple areas, and 80 rooflights needed replacing. The client wanted the refurbishment to make as little impact as possible on the departments directly below which included drug refrigeration, x-ray and ultrasound clinics, patient wards and operating theatres.Bauder Building BoardProject:Basildon & Thurrock University HospitalLocation:EssexProject Type:RefurbishmentRoof Area:900m²Specifier:NHSApproved Contractor:Breyer ConstructionProject challengesThe plant on the rooftop could not be turned off or raised and many of the AC units and boilers had to be left running due to the nature of the rooms below. Certain areas had to be repaired before others and detailing under and around the plant that could not be raised was almost an impossible task. When working around the plant, COSHH regulations had to be considered and adhered to.The result Coordinating with both the client and approved contractors was key in this project, and by using cold liquid applied waterproofing the contractors could ensure a watertight seal with quick application, allowing them to complete the remainder of the roof using reinforced bitumen membrane, and meet the tight project deadline of 12 weeks.System installedBauder Total Roof System (BTRS)Suitable for a variety of applications on both new build and refurbishment projects and can be used in warm, cold and inverted roof scenarios.1 Bauder K5KA top quality, heavy duty, torch-applied SBS elastomeric bitumen capping sheet. The product features a spunbond polyester reinforcement to allow the finished product to cope with structural movement without fracture, and a mineral finish to provide protection against UV degradation.2 BauderTEC KSA DUO 35A 3mm thick technically advanced self-adhesive elastomeric bitumen underlayer with DUO lap technology and glass lattice reinforcement.3 BauderPIR FA G16 Tapered (laid to falls)Tapered insulation is a lightweight, convenient, easy to install and cost-effective alternative method of providing falls to a roof instead of incorporating them into the structure.4 BauderTEC KSD FBSA technically advanced, self-adhesive SBS elastomeric bitumen air & vapour control layer, with a mica finished upper surface to allow easy bonding of insulation using the specified Bauder insulation adhesive.LiquiTEC Roof SystemThe Bauder LiquiTEC roof systems combine ease of application, fast cure and durability to provide a cold applied liquid waterproofing product second to none.1 LiquiDEK with reinforcement layerA cold applied liquid fast curing waterproofing resin, for use on the main roof area of the LiquiTEC Roof System. It is applied in 2 coats ‘wet-on-wet’, with a layer of Bauder 110g reinforcement fleece between them. The product is a PMMA based resin and requires the addition of catalyst to trigger curing. It is solvent, isocyanate and halogen free, minimizing its environmental impact.2 BauderTEC KSD DUOCarrier membrane & Vapour Barrier is a technically advanced self-adhesive elastomeric bitumen vapour barrier with patented “DUO” lap technology. The product features an aluminium foil facing for vapour impermeability.AdvocacyBreyer Roofing’s Contracts Manager for the project, Kerry Cutts:“The main challenge was working around the hospital’s requirements. For example, we provided a weekly plan for the areas we were working in and the rooflights / plant affected. Where possible, we worked out of hours while doing rooflight replacements to minimise any issues. We also worked closely with Bauder to vary the specification when we had to work around live plant. The communication between Bauder and Breyer Roofing was exemplary throughout and I was pleased this completed project was nominated for a national award."