Project Details
Client
The Portman Estate / Standard Life Investments
Architect
Squire & Partners
Contractor
BAM
Stone used
Calacatta Statutory marble. St. Hubert limestone, Emperador Dark marble
Value
£225,000
Contract Duration
16 weeks, completed 30-09-2008
Scope of Work
Internal marble wall cladding, internal limestone flooring, marble reception desk, ceramic floor tiling
Situated in London’s West End, 40 Portman Square boasts 100,000 sq. ft. of the highest quality office space in the area, along with 20 luxury apartments. Designed by award-winning architect, Squire & Partners, the large column-free reception area, with its mix of marble walls and limestone floors, is the focal point of this impressive building.
Putney & Wood was appointed by main contractor BAM to design, procure and install the internal stonework for this all important ‘front-of-house’ area.
Large slabs of 40mm Calacatta Statutory marble, used to clad the walls, were bought in Italy and shipped to Putney & Wood’s factory in Grays, Essex. It was inspected and approved by Squire & Partner’s design team before being manufactured into 2338 x 1580mm, polished cladding panels. A full size mock-up illustrating the detailed veining on the mitre joints was also approved at their factory before manufacture. With the quality standard agreed, Putney & Wood processed all the marble at their factory where it was stored until it was required on site and fixed by their stonemasons.
St. Hubert limestone was chosen for the floor in slab sizes up to 1385 x 1170mm. The weight of such large tiles far exceeded the CDM guidelines for man-handling floor tiles so Putney & Wood completed an onsite risk assessment and presented BAM with a detailed method statement to ensure conformity to the regulations.
For the reception desk, Squire & Partners wanted to avoid mitre jointing the corners of the marble to emphasise the feeling of high quality solid stonework. The six metre long reception desk was therefore hewn from solid pieces of Emperador Dark marble and carefully installed by Putney & Wood’s craftsmen on site.
Kevin Stoney, Contracts Manager of BAM said ”We have a good working relationship with Putney & Wood, the quality of the internal stonework on this project is first class”.
