Sheffield University AMRC (Factory 2050)

Client: Interserve

Project Date: December 2015

Designed by Bond Bryan Architects, the Sheffield University Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Factory 2050) was developed in conjunction with Boeing as a £43M state-of-the-art research factory to meet the future needs of aerospace and other high value manufacturing industries.

Our element of the works was to supply and fix over 300M² of glazed ceramic wall tiling and over 700M² of porcelain floor tiling. The unique factor in these works however, was that over 600M² of that total floor tiling was, Solus supplied, 1500x750x11mm porcelain tiles, with half of that total radially cut so that they could be laid as an annulus inside the circular office building. The radial cutting was carried out by water jet off site, the CAD drawings even allowing for the Schluter Dilex movement joints to be factored in to the setting out – precision work at its best. The tiles were fixed to their circular pattern with Mapei Keraquick adhesive on Schluter Ditra 25 matting, with the works extending up 111 steps of staircases and across a link bridge to the adjacent block.