For the refurbishment of a popular visitor attraction, the client required a single flooring solution that helped maintain the highest health and safety standards, and enhanced the aesthetics of its exotic exhibits. The seamless, non-slip Sika ComfortFloor® PS-24 system proved ideal for the project.
Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire is home to Europe’s largest collection of sharks, as well as a host of stunning sea-life such as rays, otters and tortoises. Due to the differing floor finishes throughout the attraction’s ‘Venom’ display area, the client required a single flooring solution that made for a clearer, lessconfusing viewing experience for visitors. The new floor had to offer high levels of slip resistance on account of over-spray from a nearby cascading waterfall feature creating wet surface areas, hence the specification of Sika ComfortFloor® PS-24, a tough, solvent-free, polyurethane, seamless system.
Contractor, Mike Thelwell Flooring, was selected to install the new surface, which had to be built-up in places to correct the removed floor’s differing heights. As well as its robust resistance to heavy footfall and slippage – even when flooring becomes wet – Sika ComfortFloor® PS-24’s decorative properties were crucial to its specification. It is available in a wide range of bespoke colours to suit all environments, with the client choosing a two-tone effect to create an ‘earthy’ feel in the aquarium’s Venom area. The system’s seamless aspect provided another appealing feature, as it makes the flooring simple to clean and hygiene standards easier to uphold in busy, commercial spaces.
Mike Thelwell, Director at Mike Thelwell Flooring, said: “The project was complex and specific to the client’s requirements, but Sika ComfortFloor® PS-24 ensured challenges were easily overcome. We worked closely with Sika and the client to ensure the surface was fitted within the agreed timeframe. We are extremely proud of the floor we’ve provided for this popular attraction. Our team’s installation skills, in conjunction with Sika’s superb floor system, made for a very successful project.”
With the Sika ComfortFloor® PS-24 system, which comprises Sikafloor®-3000 and Sikafloor®-300, two-part elastic, aliphatic, low-VOC, self-smoothing polyurethane resins, the aquarium has been furnished with a surface that looks as good as it performs. Non-slip, smooth and stylish, the new floor succeeds on many levels, helping enhance the visitor experience for the many thousands of people who cross the attraction’s threshold throughout the year.
