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Arena Tiling, based at Heathfield, Devon, was chosen by project
manager BW Interiors International as the only British contractor to
work on the relocation of the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC)
headquarters.
The agency is responsible for the future of Abu Dhabi's urban
environments, and the expert authority behind the visionary Abu Dhabi
2030 Urban Structure Framework Plan.
The new offices will be the first of their kind in Abu Dhabi, and will boast
major environmentally-friendly credentials. In addition, the project will be
used as a case study to implement Estidama procedures in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking on behalf of BW Interiors International, project director Darrel
Ahmed comments: "The relocation and refitting of the new headquarters,
located over three floors of the Al Mamoura Building in Abu Dhabi, has
been of major importance to BW Interiors. It was essential that we chose a
tiling contractor with experience in the UAE, as well as a reputation to
produce the quality of finish we needed. Arena Tiling has certainly lived up
to our expectations."
As the project is Abu Dhabi's first major environmentally-friendly office,
there was high priority placed on LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) Compliance.
Since its introduction in 1998, LEED has become the standard rating
system for green and environmentally-sustainable building projects.
Therefore, the use of environmentally-friendly practices and materials for
the project was of vital importance. Every tile supplied for the project had to
have a recycled material content of at least 50%.
Architect Gensler, which has offices in Dubai and London, specified that
the 200m² main reception area was to be laid with 600 x 600, 100%
recycled Decoran glass tiles from Float Glass Industries.
Furthermore, the lunch room had 140m˛ of an engineered surface
(agglomerates) tile containing up to 72% of post-consumer recycled glass
imported from Italian factory Trends.
The remaining part of the project involved over 400m² of mixed floor and
wall tiles for showers and prayer rooms, laid with a porcelain tile from Italian
factory Emilceramica's Blocks range. The 450 x 450 tile with high recycled
content, perfectly combines respect for the environment with excellent
aesthetic and functional qualities. In addition, the trims for the project
utilised were UK-based Genesis' PVC Bullnose and Optimax movement
trims.
To source the LEED-compliant materials tiles, Arena Tiling enlisted the
assistance of George Hogan, sales director of Birmingham-based
specialist tile importer, Solus Ceramics. George was able to supply valuable
information and then source the required specified tiles for Arena Tiling. In
addition, Nicholls & Clarke’s export director, Paul Dawtrey, was also able to
offer the compliant materials for fixing all of the tiles and arranged the
exportation of the materials to Abu Dhabi by Airfreight.
A spokesman for Arena Tiling commented on the project, saying: "After
all the work we have put into developing business in Abu Dhabi, it has been
both rewarding and exciting to be involved in such an important and
challenging project."
Arena Tiling is one of the leading specialist tiling contractors in the UK,
and works within all business sectors – from shopfitting and
refurbishments, to new build housing and commercial projects, throughout
the UK and internationally. The company recently expanded its head offices
in Heathfield to include over 2000ft² of warehouse space, used for its tile
and material storage.
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