Top Deck Strength at Victory Park Shopping Centre

Flowcrete South Africa has been involved in a major re-development project at the Victory Park retail outlet located on Rustenburg Road, Johannesburg.

Featuring a wide range of health, beauty, fashion, art and book stores alongside restaurants, nightclubs and fast-food units, Victory Park represents one of the city's largest and most convenient retail centres.

The shopping complex, owned by the Bentel Group of Companies, has seen a two-year programme of upgrade works take place across the 12,500 square metre site.

Forming part of the overall refurbishment works, parking capacity at the site has been increased through the addition of an over ground parking deck as an extension to the centre's existing multi-storey basement facility.

Flowcrete South Africa was approached to provide a high-strength, highly resistant and protective coating material that would be able to withstand the punishing conditions found within an exposed car park environment.

Often regarded as the multi-storey car parking structure's most vulnerable surface, the top deck is open to a wide variety of changeable weather conditions as well as oils, acids, salts and UV radiation.

In order to protect the concrete structure from such demanding conditions, a durable, UV-stable and elastomeric polyurethane coating system was required by project architects, Frans Farmer Architects.

Over 4,000 square metres of Flowcrete South Africa's Deckshield ED system were used to coat all external parking bays as well as certain areas subject to high mechanical and dynamic stresses within the basement deck.

Deckshield ED is a fully waterproof and thermal resistant deck coating material that is able to prevent thermal cycling over a 24 hour period or seasonal change from causing any cracks, fractures or defects in the surface and ultimately posing any lasting damage to the structure.

The system is also capable of withstanding high volumes of vehicular traffic and has a positively textured, skid-resistant profile to increase safety and prevent accidents within enclosed or tight parking environments.

Craig Blitenthall, Managing Director for Flowcrete South Africa said he was delighted with the completed flooring installation.

"Our Deckshield ED system is one of the most durable deck coating materials on the market, making it ideal for the Victory Park re-development project as it can offer peace of mind when standing up to such extreme conditions."

"In this instance we were able to offer the client a 10 year warranty on the Deckshield ED system and will return to site every six months to ensure that the material is performing at its best."

The installation, which was carried out by Flowcrete South Africa's approved contractor, Spec-Floors, based in Johannesburg, took place over a phased period throughout the spring.

As a result of a successful installation at the Victory Park site, the project architect has specified the use of the Deckshield material at a further five shopping complexes.