The redevelopment of St Ann’s Hospital, a multi-purpose healthcare campus in Tottenham, included a new, purpose-built mental health inpatient building.
Designed to transform patient care and staff working conditions, the work on the 74-bed mental health facility involved an extensive redevelopment of the previous wards on the site, and is rated ‘BREEAM Excellent’.
Bedford-based flooring contractor, Blade Flooring, was appointed to install the floorcoverings throughout, and turned to ‘trusted supplier’, Bostik, for its technical specifications and subfloor preparation products.
The project was large and varied, with the sub-floors in the unit’s three blocks having different requirements that needed treating in unique ways. For example, some parts of the sub-floor were made of concrete, and others of plywood. For the concrete areas, the Bostik team advised Blade Flooring to apply its HYTEC E570 ONE COAT damp-proof membrane (DPM) to suppress the residual moisture in the sub-floor, followed by GRIP A526 UNIVERSAL PRIMER and SCREEDMASTER SL C540 FLOW smoothing compound, which the company says ‘provides improved workability and excellent flow characteristics’. For the plywood areas, once they had been primed, Bostik specified SCREEDMASTER SL C530 FLEX, a fibre-reinforced, heavy-duty smoothing compound particularly suited for application onto wooden floors.
This varied approach continued into Blocks G and H where, again, some parts of the sub-floor were concrete, and others plywood. In this case, however, there were a number of hydration cracks in the concrete’s surface. These was overcome quickly with Bostik RENO P520 EASY, a crack repair system that include a solvent-free, 2K repair resin and stitching pins. RENO P520 EASY can be mixed easily within its containers and dries in just 30 minutes.
Once the cracks had been filled in, the team primed the surface with GRIP A936 XPRESS, Bostik’s water-based primer with high grip and a fast drying time, before smoothing it with SCREEDMASTER SL C530 FLEX. Block B required yet another approach, as there was Lytag screed in parts of the sub-floor. In some areas, this could be worked around, while in others it was so damaged it required removal. In the areas where a new screed was required, Bostik advised Blade Flooring to apply a slurry mix of TECHNIS C720 FLOW – a pre-blended, rapid fluid screed, mixed with Bostik SBR 0 – a co-polymer latex that ‘toughens, waterproofs, and improves’ screeds’ chemical and abrasion resistance. Once the slurry mix was applied to the prepared substrate, TECHNIS C720 FLOW was again used to reinstate the levels where the Lytag screed had been removed. Once applied, TECHNIS C720 FLOW can receive moisture-sensitive floorcoverings in as little as 7 days. This product, with its rapid drying performance, helped keep the programme on track.
The team then primed the surface with GRIP A936 XPRESS, before applying a layer of SCREEDMASTER SL C540 FLOW was to smooth the sub-floor ready for the adhesive and floor coverings.
Bostik says it technical advice and sub-floor preparation products enabled Blade Flooring ‘to navigate a complex and demanding installation’, ensuring they could install the floorcoverings to the highest standard, on time, for the hospital to open its doors to patients. Ian Dennis, Technical Specification manager, said: “This was a large project that involved modernising a sprawling 1950s hospital. It was thus necessary to advise Blade Flooring on a range of different sub-floors, which were in various states of disrepair, and had a number of requirements.
“With a project like this, you don’t know what you’ll find until you lift the flooring, and in this case, there was everything from Lytag screed to old pipework. However, once our team had inspected the site, we presented Blade Flooring with a set of recommendations for how to prepare the sub-floors, which enabled them to get the job done.”
James Hall, Business Development director at Blade Flooring, added: “This was a demanding project with many challenges due both to the age and sheer size of the building as. The Bostik team made multiple visits to the site during the process, depending on which part of the building we were working on. They always came whenever they were needed, and we relied on their advice at every step. Not only was their advice spot on, but the products they specified for us all performed excellently. I would highly recommend Bostik for all flooring projects.”
The new mental health facility is part of a project to create a modern health campus with direct benefits to the local community. With a sustainable mix of mental health and other services, the St Ann’s Hospital site includes services provided by Moorfields Eye Hospital, Whittington Health community health services, and North Middlesex University Hospital breast screening services. In the next phase of the development, homes for the local community and a public open space will be created.