CBRE | 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin)

About our client

Situated in London’s primary financial district, the City of London, stands the towering commercial skyscraper known as The Gherkin. Formerly known as the Swiss Re Building and officially named 30 St Mary Axe.

Despite its shape, the lens at the very top of the tower is the only piece of curved glass used in The Gherkin. There are 18 passenger lifts which travel at speeds of up to six metres per second. There are 1,037 steps in each of The Gherkin building’s stairwells.

Materials used

The RXEP Hi-Build 500 resin flooring system is designed for superior chemical resistance, strength, and resilience. Ideal for a variety of industrial, commercial, and manufacturing environments, including warehouses, chemical processing facilities, printing operations, food production plants, bakeries, dairies, abattoirs, and breweries, it comes in a variety of colors and can be customized with anti-slip features and line markings. RXEP Hi-Build 500 is solvent free and has very low odour during application.

• Hard-wearing
• Seamless finish
• Excellent chemical resistance
• Wide choice of colours
• Anti-slip and line-marking options

Work Undertaken

After mechanically preparing the substrate to eliminate all prior coatings, two coats of RXEP Hi-Build 500 with an anti-slip finish were applied. To designate parking bays and zebra crossings, Epoxy Flooring Line Marker was utilized.

Challenges

Stripping the substrate back to its original concrete state required extensive effort due to years of applying layers of low-quality single pack floor paint without any preparation. Multiple layers of the paint had to be removed, adding to the complexity of the preparation.

Outcome

Our client is delighted with the finish and glad to see the back of the old, peeling paint in the loading bay and car park.