Glasgow Regeneration

"Where there's a will there's a way" should be the watchword of all those connected with Glasgow Balbeg Street regeneration programme.

As a result of the West Drumoyne Partnership Project which was established to regenerate a former and much deteriorated council housing scheme, an approach was made to Linthouse Housing Association to investigate the possibility of a housing stock transfer. The association came up with a development solution working out expenditure and funding over a 30 year lifespan.

To support this approach, advisors Gray Aitken Partnership were briefed to seek out long term cost effective materials to optimise whole life costings on the 30 year plan which had been arranged through Royal Bank of Scotland with further Housing Association Grant assistance from Communities Scotland.

After extensive and thorough investigation, Keim Mineral Paints were recommended because of their proven longlife performance. The Keim system was assessed as requiring only a 15-20 year repaint cycle compared to a normal 5 year repainting associated with most conventional masonry paints. Over the 30 year period this is expected to eliminate at least four repaints making it highly cost efficient.

Gray Aitken's investigations considered the technical performance characteristics of Keim Mineral Paints and visited other projects in Scotland which had previously used the Keim Granital paint system. They visited Rosyth where 1500 terraced and maisonette properties were painted over 15 years ago, Dumbarton where 300 low rise flats were decorated. North Lanarkshire where 2000 terraced dwellings and Glasgow's Red Road flats (once Europe's tallest multi-storey domestic dwelling) were painted, also 10 years ago. They were all in a highly satisfactory condition after this period and fully justified Keim's longlife performance claims.

Keim Mineral Paints are different from conventional paints. They comprise a potassium silicate binder with inorganic mineral fillers and natural earth oxide colour pigments. The paint forms a chemical microcrystalline bond with the substrate becoming an integral part of the surface – the basis of the extreme longlife properties. Keim Mineral Paints are breathable allowing moisture vapour to pass through from the substrate whilst preventing the ingress of driven rain. They are also environmentally friendly being waterborne, VOC free and inorganic in content.

The Balbeg Street project is now complete with everyone involved having worked together for over 18 months to create homes to modern standards in a much revitalised area. On site training by Keim Mineral Paints to the painting contractor and additional after sales involvement have all helped the project to go smoothly to the satisfaction of all concerned – especially the tenants of the revitalised properties.

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