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New shopping plaza protects exposed steel with PROMAPAINT by
Promat
In the construction industry, the
strands of history frequently run long and deep.
Worldwide, heritage buildings old and new, intact
or in fascinating ruins, attest to this historical
legacy.
| Take the Light family, for example.
Sir Francis Light (1740~1794) is considered by many
the father of modern Penang, Malaysia. His son,
Colonel William Light (1786~1839) was the first
Surveyor-General and founder of Adelaide, South
Australia.
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Both men were in many ways humble
civil servants carrying out their orders of the
day. Clearly, father and son were, in their own
individual ways, both builders and men of some vision.
Builders who, like it or not, left behind indelible
footprints.
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Colonel Light designed Adelaide
along a well-ordered grid pattern. He also surveyed
a number of other places which today are integral
part of this neat, extremely livable city dotted
with numerous historic structures and green belt
parks. In fact, many Adelaide buildings and locations
still proudly carry the Light family name.
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Fast forward to a modernshopping
centre in 2005
It is unlikely that neither man
would be surprised by the changes wrought by time
nor how their two cities have developed and continue
building.
Norwood in East Adelaide is an excellent
case in point.
| A mere 10 minutes from the CBD,
Norwood has long been thought of as the city's Little
Italy with a pronounced Mediterranean café
culture centred on this well-heeled suburb's main
street, The Parade. Here and nearby, residents and
visitors alike enjoy a smorgasbord of cuisine and
specialty shops. These have expanded over the years
and now give the area a relaxed, easy-going atmosphere.
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Norwood Plaza, a new mixed precinct
of shops, offices and services, fits comfortably
into the neighbourhood. It consists of a structural
steel and tilt up concrete slab system, incorporating
a basement car park, first floor tenancies and second
floor offices and car park.
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As the building's design left the
car park steel columns and beams exposed, the architects
not surprisingly wanted an aesthetically pleasing
appearance.
This factor, in combination with
competitive square meter applied rates, called for
a steel coating with 60 minute fire-rated protection.
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In the case of Norwood Plaza, PROMAPAINT®
60 was chosen to coat approximately 4500m2 of structural
steel. The car park area was top sealed but the
office areas were left as white base-coat with no
top seal.
The Old Surveyor-General - his own
home destroyed by fire in 1839 - would be well pleased
by Norwood Plaza's triumph of form, function and
very sensible protection slotting so well into the
modern urban landscape, as his statue on Adelaide's
Montefiore Hill continues to look out on the built
environment he helped create.
For your handbook of PROMAPAINT®
Intumescent Coating for the fire protection of steelwork,
please contact us via the Enquiry Form on page 7.
For further information contact:
Promat Australia Pty Ltd
Address: 1 Scotland Road, Mile End, SA, 5031
Phone: 1800 776 6...
Fax: 1800 334 5...
Web: www.promat.com.au
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