Installing 2500 x 1000mm Porcelain Tiles in Victoria Street

80-100 Victoria Street is a landmark commercial building sitting in the renowned Cardinal Place Development.  As one of the most recognisable sites in Victoria, it provides high quality office accommodation and is currently occupied by brands including Microsoft and EDF Energy.

Earlier this year, refurbishments were completed on several areas of the building, with the project including some 1600m² of newly installed floor tiles on the ground and first floor lobby areas. Supplied by Pentagon Tiles, each slab measured 2500mm long x 1000mm wide x 6mm deep, presenting a significant challenge to the installation team.  Andrew Reid, National Business Development Manager for ARDEX, provided the specification for the project, collaborating with Pentagon Tiles, Collins Construction and Quadrant, the main and tiling contractors respectively, to ensure the optimum system was recommended.  Commenting on the project, Andrew said “The sheer size of the tiles presented a real challenge, and a system was required that would not only help Quadrant during installation, but would also provide the client with a long-term crack-free finish.  After going on-site, we were able to recommend a full specification that could achieve this and give confidence to all parties involved.”

The specification recommended a system that maximised the contact between the adhesive bed and the tile, and ultimately facilitated solid bed fixing, which is particularly important with tiles of this size, as failure to achieve this can often result with cracks in spots where the tile isn’t fully supported with adhesive

ARDITEX NA Ultra Rapid Setting Latex Subfloor Levelling and Smoothing Compound was used to level the deviations in the subfloor, and provide a smooth, flat base, to help the fixers create straight, level ribs of tile adhesive.  Additionally, it allowed the fixers to level directly to the existing ceramic tiling, removing the need for a preparatory priming layer that would usually be required with other levelling compounds.

Quadrant then fixed the tiles using ARDEX MICROTEC X 7001 Rapid Drying Pourable Floor Tile Adhesive.  Its pourable consistency facilitated solid bed fixing without the contractors having to butter the backs of the tiles first.  Also, to ensure solid bed fixing has been achieved, fixed tiles are often lifted to check for voids, however the suction created from bedding these large format tiles would have been impossible, so the use of ARDEX X 7001 provided confidence that solid bed fixing was achieved without lifting.

To finish the installation ARDEX-FLEX FS Flexible Tile Grout and ARDEX ST Elastic Silicone Sealant were specified.

Sam Frith, Creative Director at Pentagon Tiles, worked closely with Andrew on the specification. Speaking about his experience with ARDEX, he said “Working with Andrew on this project has been a pleasure, and he gave first class technical advice and customer service at every stage of the project.  The overall experience of working with ARDEX on projects of this scale continues to be excellent and we go out of our way to recommend them as a company whenever possible.  Victoria Street is unique due to the large volume of porcelain slabs installed, making it one of the largest projects of its kind.  We would not have been able to complete it without the support and advice of ARDEX.”