The extensive refurbishment has seen changes to both the ground and first flooring shopping areas, including provisions for new food and drink units and a new fire escape stairwell.
Schlüter-DITRA was installed to allow new tiles to be overlaid onto the surface.
Furthermore, the bathrooms have been upgraded with a new lighting system and finishes, whilst several alterations have been made outside to the clock tower entrance and a new seating area.
The shopping centre remained open whilst the project took place.
Schlüter flooring system
Schlüters range of products were featured prominently in the flooring system, including Schlüter DITRA matting, Schlüter-SCHIENE edge profiles and Schlüter-DILEX movement joints.
Schlüter-DITRA was installed on the ground floor, allowing for new porcelain tiles to be overlaid onto the existing surface.
The uncoupling and waterproofing matting for tile coverings neutralises tensions between substrate and surface, and features interconnected air channels which help moisture to evaporate. In total, an area of 5,000 square metres was covered.
Also used was Schlüter-DILEX, which is designed to protect flooring that are exposed to heavy pedestrian traffic, featuring stainless steel movements joints which ensure that tiles won’t bulge, dent or crack.
The final Schlüter product installed was the Schlüter-SCHIENE edge profiles, which were used to finish the tiled surfaces and protect the outer edges of ceramic and natural stone floor coverings from mechanical impact.
Carl Stokes, Head of Marketing and Customer Service at Schlüter-Systems, commented: There are few greater tests for our products than at a busy shopping centre due to the extremely high level of mechanical stresses caused by millions of pairs of feet that pass through every year.
The fact that a range of Schlüter’s products have been used in this project speaks volumes for their performance and proves what an ideal solution they provide to common load bearing problems.
