A comprehensive Mapei system has been used in the refurbishment of tiled and rendered areas at Kentish Town Underground Station. The application, carried out by Cleshar for Transport for London, forms part of an upgrade of the north London Tube station. The specification included Mapei mortars, adhesive, grout, sealant and UltraCare maintenance products - featuring very low VOC EMICODE: EC1 Plus formulations – and protective paint system, Silancolor Tonachino Plus.
An interchange station located in the London Borough of Camden, Kentish Town Underground Station had 1,786,866 entries and exits in 2023/24, making it the 293rd most used, out of 2,581 stations in Great Britain.* In addition to an upgrade of escalators, removal of a redundant ticket office and realignment of ticket barriers, other essential works at Kentish Town include deep cleaning, painting, installation of new wall tiles, and new signage. Mapei systems played a key role in the refurbishment works, being used to repair wall surfaces through tunnels, install ceramic tiles and protect the finished render.
During the works preparation phase, a full tap testing schedule concluded that original 1920’s Metro tiles, installed to full height up and over the existing public areas, were failing and would need to be removed. Following their removal, Cleshar applied two Mapei mortars to the bare walls, to repair and render the surfaces. They included very low VOC Planitop Fast 330 quick-setting, fibre-reinforced cementitious levelling mortar and Planitop 200 – a water-repellent cementitious skimming mortar with a fine-textured, natural finish.
The new tile specification included tiles from Original Style which replicated the original design. Tiles were adhered with Mapei Ultralite S2 – a one-component highly-deformable lightweight cementitious adhesive – chosen to accommodate fast drying due to wind conditions. The new tiles were installed to head height and grouted with anti-efflorescence and water-repellent Ultracolor Plus grout from the Zero line - with CO2 offset in the entire lifecycle*. Soft joints and new movement joins were sealed with Mapesil AC pure acetic silicone sealant with mould-resistant BioBlock® technology. Each product used for the tile installation has a very low VOC EMICODE: EC1 Plus formulation. Meanwhile, Silancolor Tonachino Plus – a highly protective transpirant, water-repellent, mildew and mould-resistant siloxane coating product – was applied above, to protect the newly rendered surfaces and create a light, bright environment.
Following the new tile installation, newly rendered and painted surfaces, tiles, black skirting and metal spiral staircases were thoroughly cleaned using two Zero Line* treatments from Mapei’s UltraCare range: UltraCare Multicleaner, a concentrated no-rinse pH-neutral cleaner and UltraCare HD Cleaner, an alkaline formulation designed to break down organic dirt, both featuring very low VOC EMICODE: EC1 Plus formulations. The site had become incredibly dusty, due to high suction and blowing forcing tube train break dust into the public areas. Following the deep clean, surfaces picked up noticeably less dust, so less frequent cleaning was required.
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