Flexcrete products have stood the test of time in prestigious projects all around the world and one impressive case study to mention is the Central Plaza building in Shanghai, China. Almost 15 years ago, Specialist Refurbishment Services in Asia, a company specialising in the restoration of historic structures, specified Flexcrete Monolite for a major upgrade of the external envelope of the colonial building.
The building was constructed in 1907 and was originally a secondary school in the French district of Shanghai and remained a school until the Cultural Revolution. After this time it was used as housing and fell into disrepair so the challenge of the renovation project in 1999 was to return the old building to its original elegance. It was to become a centrepiece in the heart of Shanghai’s commercial centre, comprising a four storey shopping mall at the base of the building, a five star hotel and 37 storeys of glass clad office space.
During the renovation, some 19,000 terracotta bricks on the façade were individually repaired with Flexcrete Monolite, our high build cosmetic repair mortar. Supplied as a single component cementitious mortar and CE marked in accordance with EN 1504, the thixotropic nature of the product enables easy high build trowel application up to a thickness of 100mm. The rapid application and quick hardening properties of Monolite were crucial for a project of this scale.
The Monolite was specially coloured to match the existing substrate and ensure that the building was sympathetically restored in line with its heritage. Flexcrete products were specially imported for this project, all at a time when it was somewhat challenging to get UK products imported into China. Almost 15 years after the refurbishment was carried out, the Central Plaza still looks as good today as it did when it was first carried out, demonstrating that Flexcrete products really do stand the test of time in demanding environments.