UK
Ireland
Scotland
London
A Sika UK flooring system has recently scooped an accolade for providing the filming platform for ITV soap Coronation Street.
The Weatherfield wonder has been named 'Large Project of the Year' at the prestigious industry awards, the annual Best Practice Awards hosted by FeRFA (The Resin Flooring Association.)
ITV approached Sika requiring a robust and sustainable industrial flooring system for Corrie's studios at MediaCityUK, in Trafford.
The flooring had to be extremely hardwearing to cater to the high volume of heavy equipment used on set, as well as perfectly smooth to facilitate the fluid and safe movement of HD camera devices.
Sika worked with Stewart Draper, owner and director of resin floor installers Zircon Flooring Ltd, an approved industrial flooring contractor. Together, they devised an innovative solution utilising Sika’s high-performance, self-smoothing, epoxy resin floors.
In partnership, they installed a smooth platform to film Britain's longest-running programme as well as provide the perfect solution to prevent potential static build up to ensure the flooring system will work for years to come.
Given that the very first episode was broadcast on 9th December 1960, making the show over 50-years-old, one can only imagine how many more years the Cobbles and Rovers Return Inn will be on our television screens!
Richard Kay, Key Account Manager– Flooring at Sika, said: "ITV Studios may be home to the world’s most famous cobbles, but behind the scenes studio floors are required to be perfectly smooth to ensure the very highest standards of filming. To be involved in the iconic project was a particular highlight in our commercial portfolio, so for it to win 'Large Project of the Year' too means we are absolutely delighted."
Designed for use in areas with sensitive electronic equipment, the system was expertly applied across four studios totalling 3,800m2. It comprised:
• Sikafloor Level 30
• Solvent-free, anti-static Sikafloor 262 AS
Despite tough competition, Sika fought off over 30 entries from other big players in the industry.
They were highly commended in this category for work on the Greenwich Peninsula Marketing Hub with Senso Flooring and Remmers UK; and the icing on the cake was that four of the six finalists in the category were Sika projects!
Helen McGachie, Chief Executive Officer at FeRFA, said: "Sika's work with Zircon Flooring on the Coronation Street studios really impressed the judges because of the excellent quality of the product application, as Sika and Zircon rose to the challenge, working together to achieve precise floor flatness specification."
Stewart Draper, Director at Zircon, added: "Having worked closely with Sika over the past decade we have got TV studio flooring off to a fine art and the finished floor in grey looks absolutely superb – and we’re thrilled to have won this award!"
The FeRFA Best Practice Awards took place on 28th November 2014 at the De Vere Staverton Park, Northamptonshire, and were presented by TV personality Mark Durden-Smith.
