Aesthetic appeal, durability and environmentally friendly options are top considerations when selecting paints and coatings for commercial properties. Advancements in paint and coating technologies have increased the quality of products on the market today.

There is now a healthy selection of low and zero Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) formulas to choose from which not only reduce interior odors but also help improve long-term indoor air quality. There are also paints and coatings available with inbuilt anti-microbial agents which prevent the growth of mildew and mold resulting in a cleaner environment.

And when it comes to durability there is a wide choice of products made to withstand the busiest commercial setting. Such technologies include UV-resistant paints that won’t peel, blister, and crack under the Australian sun to long lasting powder coatings with super high wear resistance.

When it comes to commercial flooring, solutions such as epoxy resin flooring ensure a hard-wearing surface that is ideal for most arduous industrial and commercial environments.

Chief Executive Officer of Ability Building Colours, Mitch Barber said Ability’s Duro Paint is an excellent option for exterior and interior paint jobs on commercial buildings.

“Many heritage buildings have been restored to their original finishes with the aid of Duro Paint,” he says.

The polymer-modified, long life surface protection coating is odourless, watertight, and available in a huge range of decorative UV-resistant colours. Duro Paint is suitable for application on walls, roofs, floors, pavements, ramps, stairs, tanks and pools. The coatings have a matte stipple textured finish that gives a subtle sandy feel (depending on the implement used to apply it). Duro Paint is safe to use as it is low in VOCs and does not emit harmful greenhouse gasses.

Ability Building Colours CEO Mitch Barber explains that Duro Paint is particularly effective for restoring old, tired-looking concrete and masonry structures. As one property renovator put it, “it hides a multitude of sins”.

Duro Paint has been selected for a range of commercial structures from very old invaluable heritage-listed buildings to modern architectural expressions. Executive Officer for The Royal Society Dr Robb Stanley said when the time came to refresh the historic Royal Society Building of Victoria, founded in 1854, they turned to Ablity Building Colours. Duro Paint was specified for the external refurbishment of the heritage listed building.

As Duro Paint is ideal for historical masonry surfaces, the paint was able to reflect the look of the textured surface of the original limewashed buildings. Although the brick and rendered building was painted with a limestone colour until the 1950s, the original colour remains unknown (as it was stripped off completely with no residue being found). For this reason, a new colour selection was made based on a Heritage Victoria approved colour scheme. Duro Paint’s outstanding durability, all-weather and UV resistance and no colour fading characteristics were also major selling points.

“What impressed us (the selection committee) most was the colour selection and the mineral finish of the paint which sets like concrete and is harder than the sand component and is obviously extremely durable,” Dr Stanley says.

“The Ability team has also been very helpful in guiding us through the process along with directing us to accredited applicators,” he says.

Duro Paint was also chosen for the concrete on St Kilda Pier in Victoria to fix a problematic and inconsistent finish that was not acceptable to the client, Melbourne Water.

They were looking for a remedy that was going to be relatively quick and didn’t involve replacing all the concrete.

“We presented the engineers with the idea of using Duro Paint as a coating solution. Of course, their main concern was that it would be durable and able to handle all the foot traffic without wearing down/ It also had to look like concrete,” CEO of Ability Mitch Barber says.

“Of course, it was also very important that any of the product that might get washed into the sea during application was non-toxic or harmful to the environment in any way,” he says.

Another environmentally considerate paint solution for commercial projects comes from Wattyl, the Australian paint makers that specialises in coatings that are hard-wearing, non-slip and environmentally friendly.

Wattyl I.D Advanced, for example, is an ideal choice for inside commercial buildings. The unique interior paint resists the growth of mould and fungus and offers advanced cleanability, washability and stain resistance. It also has an ultra-low VOC formula at less than one gram per litre, exceeding green building requirements.

A popular choice for painting commercial property exteriors is Wattyl’s Solagard Exterior coating. This tough and durable paint offers excellent aesthetics and protection for concrete, timber, and metal building exteriors. Solagard’s Total Protection Technology provides complete protection against cracking, peeling, blistering, and flaking. Its high-performance polymers and durable pigments provide resistance against chalking and colour fading in the extremes of sun and weather.

Wattyl was selected as the preferred coatings supplier for the Blacktown Hospital Redevelopment Stage 1 project which included a five-storey new inpatient building with 185 in-patient beds, additional outpatient clinics, a new in-centre renal dialysis unit and cancer care centre, medical imaging, pharmacy, and retail spaces.

Blacktown Hospital / Wattyl

The $312 million project was designed following Green Star requirements by architects Jacobs. The building interior was painted using Wattyl I.D, in a variety of bright colours to help define the different sections of the hospital. Externally, Wattyl Solagard was used. Wattyl’s GranoImpact, a pure acrylic, high performance elastomeric coating, was also applied to the hospital exterior, delivering a high-profile textured finish.

Dulux is another brand offering a wide selection of paints for commercial applications. Several Dulux paints and protective coatings were specified for the new Victoria Police headquarters in Melbourne to meet both sustainability objectives and practical considerations.

Located on Spencer Street in the Melbourne CBD, the $650 million Victoria Police Centre was developed by Cbus Property as a purpose-built 39-storey tower designed by Woods Bagot. As a high-profile, critically important building, it was essential that the products specified offered low-maintenance, long-lasting performance.

Given that the building would be subject to immense foot traffic each day, especially in the common areas, it was vital that the walls were able to withstand knocks, scrapes and scuffs. Dulux Wash & Wear was used here to provide long-lasting, washable surfaces. For the new plasterboard, Dulux Professional Enviro2 interior was used to meet the sustainability ratings.

External steel and other substrates were protected from the elements with Dulux Protective Coatings that were also aesthetically pleasing.

For architects looking to give metal surfaces on commercial builds a whole new look and level of performance, Interpon’s D2525 Stone Effect powder coatings will transform these surfaces to give them a beautiful, stone-like appearance.

Available in seven different styles the speciality coating has all the aesthetic qualities of Portland stone, limestone, and brickwork, but without the practical challenges and costs that come with installing the real thing. Surfaces protected by Interpon D2525 Stone Effect powder coating are lighter, super durable, and easier to handle.

Interpon explains that applying the coating is a “very green process” as there are no solvents in the paint and no heavy metals in the formulation. And the process is clean too, there are no toxins or dust deposits for the people who spray it. It’s lead-free, it’s easy to dispose of, there are no VOCs and there is a high application efficiency with up to 99% usage.

Interpons D2525 Stone Effect powder coatings have only just launched in Australia, but the coatings have already seen some great results overseas. In Ireland, Interpon’s powder coating was used for the Dublin Landings, a prestigious office block on the banks of River Liffey. Interpon D2525 Stone Effect was chosen for the structure’s banding elements, helping to compliment the fin detailing. Interpon’s powder coating in White Stone was used at mixed use development City North in Finsbury Park London.

Low VOC and high-performance coatings are also in high demand when it comes to commercial flooring. To meet this need Tremco has developed Flowcoat Terrosso, a highly decorative resin-based flooring system. The multi-layered system features an epoxy primer, base coat, acrylic paint flakes, followed by coats of a UV-resistant sealer.

There are a few options for gloss or satin finish, and it is available in a >P1 to >P4 slip-resistant finish depending on the project needs and legislative requirements.

The system can be put together with a range of low VOC clear sealers including water-based options. These polyurethane-based sealers offer enhanced protection against abrasion and can be used not just on Tremco’s own systems, but also for sealing polished concrete. Performance resin flooring systems such as the Flowcoat Terrosso system are ideal for commercial applications thanks to its durability and abrasion resistance.

Flowcoat Terrosso was the flooring of choice for the new state-of-the-art $177 million Brisbane International Cruise Terminal designed by Arkhefield in collaboration with Arup. The public spaces including the internal walkways, communal areas and departure lounge featured Flowcoat Terrosso in four bespoke colour combinations. The decorative resin-based flooring system was chosen to provide a decorative, seamless surface that would not only create a luxurious and welcoming environment but withstand the expected foot traffic.

Sika Floorings and Coatings has also seen an increase in the desire for sustainable flooring coatings in the commercial space. Sikafloor Resin flooring solutions (Epoxy, PurCem and Polyurethane) have been a strong choice for public spaces, the food industry, cleanroom environments and car parking areas.

Sika floor coatings were chosen for the popular direct factory outlet shopping centre in Homebush. The shopping hotspot is open to the public seven days, attracting tens of thousands of shoppers each week. Years of constant foot traffic resulted in the entire centre requiring renovations.

The unique project required a complete revamp of approximately 1200 m² worth of flooring within the centre. Given the flooring would be located directly in premium and high-end shop fronts, a durable yet very aesthetically appealing solution that tied in with the decorative theme of the surrounding store fascias was needed. A key requirement for this project was that the same finish and effect that was applied to the flooring would also need to be applied to a 40-metre-long ramp at a slope of 1:40 leading into the centre.

This required special attention during the planning stages of the project. A challenge for this project was the application of the flooring while the centre was still trading as well as having renovations carried out to other areas. Firmstone Flooring Specialists were sub-contracted for the project and before construction began, a timber mock-up of the flooring was made to ensure that the finish matched the architect’s artist's impression.

Once this was approved, Sika and Firmstone began work on the floor. Working in areas of 300 m², the floor was vacuum ground before being primed with Sikafloor-160, a two-part solvent-free, epoxy primer and binder used in past flooring systems such as the MCG and Perth Arena. Sikafloor-160 was then mixed with the silver and grey metallic shards which would ultimately give the floor the desired metallic effect.

When it comes to commercial builds, architects, builders, and designers are looking for paints, coatings and sealings that are not only hard-wearing and fit for use but also environmentally friendly, low VOC and aesthetically pleasing.

Image: Dublin Landings / Interpon

Suppliers

Ability Building Colours

Sika Floorings and Coatings

Nathalie Craig

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