Repair of 19,000 Terracotta Bricks on Building Faҫade
Background
The historic Central Plaza building in China was constructed in Shanghai’s French district in 1907. Its first use was as a secondary school and it remained an educational building until the Cultural Revolution. After this time it was used as housing but over time, it fell into disrepair.
In 1999, a major upgrade was carried out by Specialist Refurbishment Services in Asia, a company specialising in the restoration of historic buildings, to return the colonial 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.
As part of a major refurbishment of the external envelope of the building, 19,000 terracotta bricks needed individual repair.
The Solution
Monolite, a lightweight, high build cosmetic repair mortar, was chosen for this prestigious project as it is specifically designed to repair, render and profile brick, concrete or stone substrates. 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.
TheMonolite 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.
Client/ Contractor
Specialist Refurbishment Services in Asia
Shanghai Central Plaza