Nottingham Central Library - By the Book Installation for Nottingham Library

F. Ball products, including dual-purpose Stopgap Fill and Prime thixotropic primer and Stopgap 1200 smoothing compound, have been used to create a large-scale, high-performance flooring finish in the new Nottingham Central Library as part of a £4 billion regeneration project.

Flooring contractors installed over 2,000m² of vinyl sheet flooring over three floors of the Library, which contains over 180,000 books and reference materials spread over nearly 2km of shelving, including in the ground floor café and reception, meeting rooms and an exhibition space.

Contractors used Stopgap Fill and Prime and Stopgap 1200 smoothing compound to prepare metal raised access panels in all areas, creating a perfectly smooth surface for floorcoverings.

Once the primer had cured, Stopgap 1200 smoothing compound was applied to create a perfectly smooth base for the installation of floorcoverings. The product is a fast-setting, fast-drying, two-component smoothing compound for preparing sound internal subfloors. It can also be used over old adhesive residues, without the need to prime subfloors beforehand.

Contractors then used Styccobond F46 pressure sensitive acrylic adhesive to install Gerflor safety flooring in all areas where subfloors had been prepared, with multiple colours used to demarcate different areas, such as breakout zones.

The adhesive was also used to adhere vinyl to the steps of one of the building’s staircases, with Styccobond F60 contact adhesive used to attach vinyl to the risers.

Forbo Coral Classic entrance matting was also installed at the main entrance to the building using Styccobond F45 adhesive, which is designed for securing highly plasticised vinyl floorcoverings and PVC-backed carpets.