Spec-Net Building Index
Promat Australia Pty Ltd

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.



Promat Australia Pty Ltd Profile

1800 776 628

1 Scotland Road, Mile End, SA, 5031

Promat Australia Pty Ltd Profile

1800 776 628

ENQUIRE HERE

ENQUIRE NOW






Related News Articles