IAMP - Tyne & Wear

A smooth finish for new advanced manufacturing hub

The International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) in Tyne & Wear is a joint venture between Sunderland and South Tyneside councils with developer Henry Boot Developments.

Spanning more than 150 acres between Sunderland and South Tyneside, the £400 million manufacturing hub is designed to support the automotive, advanced manufacturing and technology industries and has the potential to create thousands of jobs for local people.

French car parts manufacturer makes IAMP its home

The first customer to move into the new site was the UK arm of a leading French car parts manufacturer. With 30 manufacturing plants around the world and customers including Audi, Mercedes, Nissan and Volkswagen, the company hopes to create 150 jobs at its new site.

Cramlington-headquartered construction firm Howard Russell Construction Ltd was the main contractor tasked with building the new facility.

Last minute changes deliver an upmarket finish

With the customer preparing to move into its new premises, a last-minute change in specification for the flooring presented a final challenge to completion.

Previously, a combination of carpet tiles and vinyl flooring had been specified for the offices, toilets, kitchen and entrance area, which would have been relatively straightforward to lay.

However, the customer opted instead for high quality large format porcelain tiles throughout the 1,600m2 area.

Howard Russell’s contracts director Barry Wilkinson explained, “Originally, most of the office floor areas were specified as carpet tiles and vinyl. Once the client decided to go with the tiled option, it changed all of the setting out for the expansion joints, which was very challenging.”

Experienced tilers for a complex job

A last-minute switch to tiling such a large area called for experienced tilers to complete the job. Family-owned firm W Rodgerson & Sons Tilers was appointed to carry out the challenging project to the high standards required.

Barry continued, “We have worked with W Rodgerson & Sons for more than twenty years, and they are by far the best in the business at what they do.”

At 1,600m2, this was the Northumberland-based tilers’ largest contract to date. The company chose Weber products because of benefits including, “Low dust, ease of application, and the support received from Weber.”

High performance tiling products required

To prepare the floor for the large format 600 x 600mm porcelain tiles, the team first applied weber PR360 multi-purpose priming solution. This sealed the surface and provided good adhesion properties prior to the application of the tile adhesive.

Once the floor was prepared, the team applied 340 bags of weberset SPF tile adhesive to the surfaces and fixed the tiles. The adhesive’s long working time also gave the team greater flexibility in preparing the difficult layout.  Waterproofing membrane was fixed to a heated screed area using weberset rapid SPF, an adhesive containing Low Dust Technology™ to significantly reduce airborne dust.

The tiling was finished with weberjoint premium grout in silver grey, which provided a water repellent and scratch-resistant surface. The team completed the tiling by filling the perimeter movement joints with the flexible and waterproof weberjoint silicone sealant. The end result was the high-quality finish the client was seeking that will stand the test of time.

Craig Scott of W Rodgerson & Sons explained his rationale for choosing Weber products for this project, “Using Weber products removes any concerns about effective performance, as we know from experience that every Weber product will work perfectly, whatever condition we find the job in. The complexity of this project presented numerous challenges but we’re delighted with the final outcome.”

With the tiling complete, the car parts manufacturer moved into its new premises in July 2019.