Breaking out old Terrazzo tiling is both expensive and time consuming. Project managers faced with removing old, cracked tiling are forced to contemplate a limited range of options.

Nexus operate Tyne and Wear Metro and are currently managing a £350M 'all change' programme to modernise the Metro over 9 years. A £20m redevelopment of Haymarket Station is now complete.

Working with Tolent construction the original single storey building was demolished and replaced with a three-storey facility. All concourse and platform areas including street level were refurbished.

The original Terrazzo flooring was high noise, unsightly and had poor slip qualities. Tiles were well bonded however and removal costs to enable new flooring were extremely high.

Time was also an issue with limited closures and most works needing to be completed around public and train timetables. The railway sector is of course heavily regulated and Health and Safety issues remained critical throughout the project.

A solution was found with an overlaid product, Stonres RTZ. Over 1200 m² of Stonres RTZ resin floor was laid over the original tiles and sealed with matt slip resistant coatings. The system allows for minor movements under the flooring. Stonhard UK worked with Tolent Construction to plan works over 9 months, coping with only one ten day closure. Trains continued to pass through the station during works.

The working environment was unheated calling for the erection of tents within which the resin product could be heated prior to laying.

The finished product is a heavy duty, attractive floor surface that provides good noise absorption, particularly within the tunnels.

Tolent Construction"s, David Thompson commented: "The product was chosen for its ability to go over the existing floor. Not only would it have been expensive to take the original tiling up but station closures had to be kept to a bare minimum and there was no time.
“Aesthetically the finished floor is very good and the acoustic benefits are particularly noticeable in the upper concourse areas where retail units result in higher footfall. Stonhard performed really well; from the original sales discussion to technical advice and installation we had great support.”