November 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
38
admixtures
PROFESSIONALCONTRACTORS, FARQUHARSON
Construction, were
contracted to extend and refurbish the Victory Park Shopping Centre.
The new Virgin Active Victory Park gym was built as an extension to
the shopping centre.
This exciting state-of-the-art lifestyle club boasts a heated lap pool,
lounge area, group exercise studios, a steam room and sauna, cardio
floor and functional training areas.
The tiling was done by George Camara Tiling over a period of two
months. “Our client was looking for a modern and relaxed feel,” says
Michael Camara of George Camara Tiling.
Over 3 000 m² of porcelain tiles were installed in the reception and
wet areas. TAL Goldstar 6 rapid-setting tile adhesive was used to install
the porcelain tiles and TAL Fine Epoxy Grout was specified for the wet
area installations.
As the facility features a number of wet areas, TAL Fine Epoxy
Grout was specified for the showers, steam room and sauna as well
as the swimming pool surrounds. TAL Fine Epoxy Grout is resistant to
most chemicals, ensuring a totally hygienic and impervious smooth
grout joint.
“It is ideal for applications where hygienic conditions are extremely
important, such as gym change rooms and swimming pools where
bacteria and mould growth can occur,”says Sharon Margon, technical
advisor at TAL.
The tile installation was required to be completed within a two
month time frame and therefore the use of a rapid setting adhesive
was essential. TAL Goldstar 6 rapid setting adhesive sets and allows
for full traffic within six hours depending on site and ambient condi-
tions. The adhesive is high strength and shrinkage compensated, and
can be applied in bed thicknesses of up to 12 mm, and built up to
20 mm in isolated areas.
TAL Goldstar 6 is ideal for fixing porcelain, granite, dark coloured
marble, natural stone, ceramic and clay tiles towalls and floors in interior
and exterior installations. TAL Keycoat Primer was used as a primer to
create better adhesion onto the substrate before the tiling commenced.
The club features an exceptional Mind and Body studiowhich offers
all levels of Pilates, Tai-Chai and Yoga classes.
“The positioning of the club opened up an opportunity to use
natural views as the focus of the studio. To optimise these views, the
Mind and Body studio was placed on the upper level of the club. It was
possible to cantilever the studio over the lap-training pool thus creating
the feeling of floating over water. This together with the views, natural
light from three sides and the forest wallpaper on the back wall, make
for a very special studio that recreates the feeling of being in nature,”
says Gareth Letcher, contracts director at Farquharson Construction.
The project which took nine months to complete was not without
challenges. “We had major time constraints, we had to deal with rock
and ground water and quality had to be of the highest standard which
is always a challenge,”says Letcher.
The new gym turned out to be a great success and delivers a more
authentic experience. “Virgin Active representatives from the United
Kingdomcame out to inspect the project and they said it was the closest
to perfection they had seen. This is a great accolade for us and made
the stress and late nights worthwhile,”says Letcher.
TheTALWarranty Programme offers a 10-year warranty on any tiling
installation, provided a Materials and Methods specification is issued
by TAL for the project, TAL products are used in strict accordance with
the specification and the installation is undertaken by aTAL Registered
Tiler and monitored by TAL.
TAL is ISO 9001:2008 quality management system certified and its
products are designed, manufactured and tested to TAL standards,
assuring customers that products will perform to specification.
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Adhesives for
new gym
TAL is proud to be associated with the new Virgin
Active gym in Victory Park Gauteng, for which
it supplied TAL Goldstar 6 rapid-setting tile
adhesive, TAL Keycoat Primer andTAL Fine Epoxy
Grout to install 3 000 m² of tiles.
