Quarterly Update - Q1 2023
Centre of Excellence & Innovation
Sikatastic!
Tech specialists from Sika and a team of our operatives held a workshop at the Centre ahead of our deployment on site at a stunningly luxurious residential development to be built in the heart of Mayfair.
We are about to apply Sikalastic® 1k, an advanced waterproofing system, to four basement levels and seven upper stories where 29 superior residences will be created. The fit outs will be so expensive that the developer is leaving nothing to chance and wants to make sure there will be no water ingress during the bottom up build.
Penthouses and town houses within the development will each have their own swimming pool too so eventually there will be quite a volume of water in the building. But of course fully contained.
Grip-Free
Our lab technicians are talking to a fabulously innovative American company about trialling their grip-free paint brush in the UK.
The brushes have been ergonomically designed to fit neatly in the hand without the need to hold a firm grip over long periods of time. Painters can suffer discomfort from cramp in their hands, even repetitive strain injury.
We have developed our own brushes in the past and we like the potential of this new idea with the comfort of our operatives and painters generally in mind. The Centre is just the place to trial new tools as well as create innovative coatings.
PPG Workshops
Lucas has been holding workshops at the Centre with Pittsburgh based, PPG, the world’s leading manufacturer of paints and coatings. Perhaps best known over here for the Johnstone’s and Leyland brands.
We are holding training days to trial potential new products and find new ways of solving typical fit out and finishing problems, very much in line with PPG’s own mantra “to protect and beautify the world.”
It's that metal look
The Lucas tech team is rather good at coming up with innovative coating solutions. We did for the Foster + Partners designed London HQ building for Bloomberg that specified curved metallic finished cladding panels to set off each storey inside an eight level atrium. But too expensive to install and maintain.
Better, Lucas used a modified GRG substrate and spray applied a Perlata finish, with a specially developed water-based coating formulated with crushed pearl particles to create that metal look. Made and sprayed offsite, parts coded and fitted like a jigsaw just-in-time.
The Centre is now working on another top architect’s inspired idea using similar substrates and acoustic panels, developing a water-based, low-VOC coating for a reception area that will have that desirable metal look without the installation and maintenance drawbacks. Problem solved.
Bespoke Projects:
Metal Bridge
So the architect specifies an ornate pedestrian iron bridge to provide a dazzling feature for your development over in Paddington. But it’s got to be absolutely safe and meet today’s demanding standards, otherwise no authority sign off. What do you do?
Call on our technical expertise of course. We’re grit blasting the components of the bridge and treating them with a bespoke, multi-coat system that is slip-resistant and has a confirmed long life. It makes the bridge look great but has the performance qualities that will keep walkers safe in all weathers. And satisfy the powers that be.
Bespoke Projects:
Swimming Pool
So the architect – a different one this time – has factored in a stunning set of steps with a very clever lighting system installed within them. It will make a great feature, especially in the dark. Ah, but that’s the problem.
To see the lights there was going to be a gap in the steps and that would mean potentially trapping your foot as you climb them. It wasn’t going to work. So our team was brought in, we fired up our Centre’s lab lights and developed a transparent acrylic infill system that allows the steps’ lights to shine brightly but makes them perfectly safe.
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The Lucas Centre of Excellence is the central hub for problem-solving, emerging technologies, and innovations from Lucas. We strive to stay at the very forefront of the industry, consistently developing cutting-edge solutions to tackle client challenges.
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