University of Sunderland - National Glass Centre External Redecoration - AWARD

The University of Sunderland is preparing to carry out a period of planned maintenance to paint the external steelwork of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear. The building is situated on the banks of the River Wear at Monkwearmouth, Sunderland, is exposed to the harsh weather elements and subsequently the external steelwork finishes have fallen into a poor state of repair.

In preparation for this, the University has undertaken a period of adhesion testing of marine type paint products that can be applied to the pre-painted steelwork. I was found that the existing paint has lost all adhesion meaning that a marine type paint product cannot applied on top.

Given the above, the University acknowledge that this project will now require a full removal of the existing paintwork back to bare metal before painting the building with a marine type paint specification that will provide the building with protection against the elements for a period of 10+ years. The National Glass Centre is open to the general public 7 days a week closing on Christmas, Boxing and New Year's Day opening daily between 10am till 5pm relying heavily on the school and public holidays as key times for the business where footfall is at its highest.

This being the case the preference is there to carry out the above works either side of the school holidays where disruption will be at as minimum as expected. The client has a commitment to carry out this project in 2 Phases with Phase 1 to be completed in August 2019 and Phase 2, August 2020. As this is a complex project Phase 1 will seek address the East and West building elevations and Phase 2 the more complex Riverside elevation.