Lake Haven Shopping Centre
Brightening up a busy car park
Lake Haven Shopping Centre is a major retail hub on the NSW Central Coast. Vicinity Centres management wanted to add some light to a dull and dreary-looking carpark currently dominated by bare concrete finishes.
The client’s main concerns were:
- the durability and sturdiness of the coating on the concrete columns in such a high-traffic area
- treating the concrete columns so they’d be able to hold up to damage from vehicle impact
Our job was to prepare and paint 148 pre-cast concrete columns in the underground carpark at Lake Haven Shopping Centre.
Here’s an outline of our protective coating and painting process:
- Clean each column with a sugar soap product to remove grime and carbon build-up from exhaust gases
- Apply a protective concrete sealer base coat for adhesion
- Apply two coats of premium Exterior Semi-Gloss. Not only will this achieve an aesthetically pleasing finish, but it also offers extra protection to help the surface stand up to the harsh environment of the car park.
THE CHALLENGES
While appearing to be a relatively simple job, it wasn’t without its challenges.
- Restricted access to the worksite
As the carpark had to remain open to the public around the clock, the works had to be completed outside normal hours. Even though most trade in the shopping centre finished at 5:30 pm, supermarkets and some retail stores are open until late.
This meant that while we could commence works in the evening, the car park would still be relatively busy until around 10:30 pm. This gave us a smaller window to complete the works.
- Equipment couldn’t be left on the premises overnight
With nowhere to leave access machines and materials on-site safely, a scissor-lift machine and all materials were brought in each night, and collected again each morning before the car park became busy.
- Taking care to work around customer vehicles
The team took great care when working around vehicles that remained in the car park overnight. As vehicles slowly began filtering out of the car park in the evenings, sections would be barricaded off so works could begin.
We completed the application of protective coating to the columns in stages, so works were not spread out too far into the car park all at once.
THE RESULT
The goal of bringing light into a dull carpark was achieved, with the end result exceeding the client’s expectations.
- By adding extra labour resources, the project was completed in only three nights, minimising disruption to the client and their patrons.
- Even with the extra resources, the project was still completed under budget.
“The transformative effects of a coat of paint and a splash of colour are often overlooked. It’s always a pleasure to work with clients who appreciate the value in quality.”
JEFF RAYMENT, PROJECT MANAGER