BBC produces the Full Metal Jacket
Project Overview
The iconic Grade ll listed BBC Television Centre building has been reopened as a housing, leisure and office development, with four BBC studios remaining at the site.
The new properties are all being converted within the original ‘question-mark’ shaped building, the façade of which needed to retain its original appearance and style. This included making the new window frames from steel to the same 1950s design but with a thermal-break in order to comply with today’s regulations.
The window frames are a Schueco-Jansen Slimline Heritage profile system fabricated from stock lengths of thermally broken pre-galvanized steel. When the sections are cut and welded to make the frames, small areas of the protective galvanizing zinc are burnt away leaving the underlying metal vulnerable and this must be repaired as part of the coating process.
The Solution
Powdertech Corby bead-blasted the frames with aluminium oxide in order to key the zinc, followed by primer coating with AkzoNobel PZ790. This is an epoxy zinc-rich primer which will replace the lost zinc in the welded areas. A high-performance powder, AkzoNobel RAL8022 matt, Qualicoat class 2, was applied as a top coat. Powdertech's rigorous system will help to keep the façade free from corrosion for up to 15 years.
Benefits
- With over 28 years’ experience, Powdertech has the expertise to recognise when additional pre-treatment is necessary for ensuring full metal protection.
- High quality architectural powder coatings provide excellent protection against corrosion and UV degradation.
- Powdertech's plant-flexibility is perfect for multi-coat finishes and can coat a wide variety of shapes and sizes of metal fabrications.
- Powdertech has close relationships with the leading powder manufacturers who specialise in custom shades.
