Project data
Value: £90 million
Reardon Smith, Beck Interiors, DT Interiors and Penlaw & Co
Products: Knauf AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor
Project details
AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor tile backer from Knauf has a permanent booking at one of London’s premier luxury hotels, where it supports heavy marble tiles in just under 200 bathrooms in the five star accommodation currently under refurbishment.
Beck Interiors, main contractor for the refurbishment, agreed to use the 12.5mm fibre cement board after consultation with Knauf and the design team. Renowned for its immense strength, even when wet, market leading Knauf AQUAPANEL® was developed as a drywall solution for wet areas, and is the best safeguard against tile adhesion failures in drywall constructions.
The London hotel’s current two year redevelopment, due for completion in late 2010, will ‘completely reinvent’ the hotel. All eight floors of guestrooms and suites, and the ground floor restaurants and bars, have been reconfigured and redesigned, and a spa and fitness suite added in an entirely new rooftop extension.
Beck Interiors is an internationally acclaimed specialist in hotel renovation. Contracts Director André Roberts says 15mm marble tiles have been specified for the hotel’s bathrooms, and Knauf is confident that AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor’s 50kg/m2 carrying capacity will support them. “We have used it in the past and have grown confident with its capabilities,” he says. “It is relatively easy to install, Knauf assures us that it has good longevity, and it appears to do exactly what it says.”
Drywall subcontractor DT Interiors is installing more than 8,000m2 of AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor for the bathrooms – 53 of which are designed as large wet rooms, rather than traditional bathrooms with tub. DT Director Paul Tear says the product is installed for floor-to-ceiling tiling – and it shapes some intricate detailing including tiled alcoves and stud walls, as well as bath panels.
“I’ve worked with AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor on other jobs and it is a good, stable board which is easy to cut and simplifies the installation,” he says. DT Interiors sourced the product through Essex-based Penlaw & Co, one of the largest independent drywall suppliers in the south, with five branches. Both Knauf and Penlaw & Co were closely involved throughout discussions on the specification providing he required technical advice.
AQUAPANEL® Wall Liner is designed for full or part-tiled situations, and provides an exceptionally tough, durable and solid substrate for tiles in wet indoor areas such as swimming pools, leisure centres, changing rooms, toilets, laundries, kitchens – and bathrooms. Knauf AQUAPANEL® Cement Board Indoor is ready keyed for tiling, saving time on site and reducing the risk of costly, inconvenient tile failures.