On The Right Track
London’s newly restored and extended St Pancras Station is a monument to the age of rail travel which was a modern miracle of Victorian times in the mid-19th Century. The spectacular 243 foot span domed roof is still the star feature with its magnificent clock taking pride of place at one end of the structure.
Today, reborn as St Pancras International, it represents the latest in modern rail travel as the UK home of the Eurostar and another modern addition, beneath the clock, is Paul Day’s massive 9m high bronze statue “The Meeting Place” which depicts a ‘brief encounter’ moment typical of the comings and goings of the modern traveller.
Keim Restauro Lasur was specified for use on the renovated brickwork and faience to provide a longlife finish, colour matched to the several original colours during extensive colour trials carried out by Keim Mineral Paints technical advisors in conjunction with the principal main contractor consortium’s heritage advisors. No less than 18 layers of paint had to be removed before the original brickwork colours were found and could then be matched.
Keim Restauro is a complete system for the cleaning, consolidation, repair and preservation of stone and other mineral substrates such as bricks.
It is for use where there is a need to apply a low pigmentation colourwash to a repaired or restored surface to achieve an overall stain or ‘Lasur’ appearance. It harmonises variations in the substrate finish whilst retaining the original appearance of the brickwork. It is available in a wide range of shades including ‘specials’ and can be used successfully where an opaque treatment would be out of keeping. It is UV stable and will not fade and offers extreme longlife. To match the existing heritage brickwork at St Pancras International, a number of different colour lasurs were used together with over 16 million new bricks to replicate the originals redecorated in the restoration.
Keim Restauro Lasur offers a longlife finish resulting from the chemical crystalline bond which the coating forms with the substrate, maintaining breathability whilst withstanding exposure to even severe conditions. It is resistant to algae and mould growth, completely lightfast, and inherently non-combustible and environmentally friendly being odourless, solvent and VOC free and produced using only natural inorganic materials.
Keim Ecosil was also widely used in the ticket hall and on internal lime plasterwork in the offices and other parts of the building. Ecosil achieves Class ‘0’ fire protection even over existing paintwork and has been used for both new build and refurbished areas. It also shares similar properties to Restauro being environmentally friendly, breathable and light reflective, which helps to reduce lighting level requirements.
Just like St Pancras Station, Keim Mineral Paints have been in use for well over a Century and are very much part of specifications for new and refurbished buildings which require a truly longlife, high quality paint solution.