Situation

The new Mercedes Benz Autohaus flagship store in Newstead, Queensland is an Australian first for the global automotive powerhouse. The five-storey, 32,000sqm Mercedes Benz dealership includes a 539sqm museum, garden pavilion, staff training centre, 45 vehicle maintenance bays, a rooftop restaurant and a function area, and is the car dealer’s largest development of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Challenges

The sheer size of the project posed challenges for the general contractor. The five-storey building required 15,000sqm of wall and floor tiling of various sizes and areas across the showrooms, workshops and amenities.

A product system was required that would not only work in conjunction with the tiles provided, but would also help deliver the project with a quick turnaround by allowing the builders and contractors to proceed at a faster than normal rate to meet the expectations of project stakeholders.

Solution

ARDEX tiling products were specified and chosen for this large project. The tiling contractor was an approved and trained installer of ARDEX products, helping to ensure that the ARDEX system was installed to the recommended specifications, and eliminate the risk of product failure.

ARDEX K 15 MICROTEC self-levelling compound is rapid-drying and contains microfibre reinforcement. Being rapid-dry, the compound achieves high early strength and is walkable after 2 hours with most floor coverings able to be installed 16 hours later, allowing a fast turnaround of work.

ARDEX X 18 Non-Slump wall and floor tile adhesive is fibre-reinforced, which provides added strength to the tiled areas – ideal for the intended use of the Autohaus. Being non-slump, the adhesive is also ideal for large format and heavy tiles.

Beyond the performance of the specified ARDEX products, the level of customer service and technical support provided also proved to be a determining factor in the project’s success. The Mercedes Benz Autohaus became one of the biggest tiling jobs outside of retail shops completed in Brisbane in modern times.

Architecture & Design Team

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ARDEX Australia

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