"More New Worlds are now using coloured concrete for their floors because they are good for the environment, hard wearing, low maintenance and by 1-3mm we have an attractive finish," says Graham Hickling Project Manager from Armstrong Downes Ltd. "In the past the New World floors have been covered with either linoleum or a tile but Foodtsuffs wanted to give this store a new upmarket look."
The coloured concrete pours required careful planning and real focus on production quality to ensure the colour of each load was as close as possible to the colour of the previous one. The product specification also required the supply of coloured concrete test panels for approval before the green light was given for the main pours to proceed.
"The 1400m2 floor area required two pours with a total of 210m3," said Alistair Bennett, National Technical/Materials Engineer for Firth. "There were also some fairly detailed discussions with Armstrong Downes and the consulting engineer to make sure that the drying shrinkage of the concrete was at a level they would be happy with."
"The pours went well and Firth maintained consistency in the colour for each of the loads," adds Graham. "Now the floor has been ground down by 2-5mm we have ended up with what we call a 'salt and pepper' finish. It looks really good and the client is happy."
