Heathrow Terminal – United Kingdom

Contractor:

• Loughton Contracts – Loughton, Essex, United Kingdom

Product Featured:

• ARDEX ARDITEX NA Latex Sub-Floor Levelling & Smoothing Compound
• ARDEX AF 2300 Rubber Flooring Adhesive

Challenges:

• Fast turnaround with minimal down times
• Large amount of traffic
• 40,000 m2 (430,570 ft2)
• Rubber flooring system

Problem:

Hosting over 68 million passengers per year, Heathrow International Airport in London England is the busiest airport in Europe, and the fourth busiest airport in the world. Terminal 1 alone handles 12 million passengers, almost 18% of the passenger base, so completing the Terminal 1 refurbishment with minimal downtime was a priority to prevent passenger delays and loss of service. The refurbishment included the check-in, baggage system and the arrivals concourse to provide a faster and more comfortable experience for travelers. Solution:

Once the renovation was underway, the previous floor coverings were removed and the subfloors were mechanically prepared. To properly prepare the subfloor to receive rubber flooring, the ARDEX UK Team recommended ARDITEX NA Self-Smoothing Leveling Compound. ARDITEX NA is a protein free latex product and can be used on virtually any substrate. It has a compressive strength of 16.5 N/mm2 (approximately 2400psi) and can be applied from a feather edge to 12mm neat and up to 30mm with the addition of aggregate. Using ARDITEX NA allowed the contractors to move forward with the project to install the rubber flooring in only four hours. This provided the British Airport Authority peace of mind that their new flooring would be finished quickly and be strong enough to withstand the heavy traffic from people, equipment and heavy rolling loads typically found in airports. For the floor coverings, a combination of rubber floors manufactured by Nora Flooring Systems was selected, so ARDEX AF 2300 was used as the floor covering adhesive. ARDEX AF 2300 is a single part, water based, low-odor adhesive ideal for rubber floorings up to 4mm thick. Offering a very good early and long term adhesive strength, ARDEX AF 2300 is relatively easy to install compared to many competitors’ products. ARDEX AF 2300 is low-odor, fast drying and provides a high yield making it an ideal product for this project. London Heathrow Airport is one of the many accomplishments from the combined efforts of ARDEX UK and Loughton Contracts. Commenting on the project, John Collier, Sales Director of Loughton Contracts said, “This large installation required a proven, fast track solution that would ensure minimum disruption to the airport. By working with ARDEX we could deliver exceptional results, and the peace of mind that is synonymous with ARDEX’s advanced flooring products and it assured a rapid, perfect finish, completed on schedule