Knauf’s Airless Finish spray plaster has provided what the building product manufacturer dubs ‘a flawless, sustainable interior wall finish’, and contributed to the BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, at the new unified breast unit at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr Hospital in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) says the area’s breast units are Wales’s busiest, seeing over 6,000 patients annually and to better meet the healthcare needs of local people, and improve the quality of service and patient care, is building a new unit in Ystrad Mynach that will bring together its breast cancer services.
Leading the project development is BAM Construction, with sub-contractors including Richard Kemble Contracts, which recommended using Knauf Airless spray instead of traditional methods, such as the full taping and jointing finish originally specified, or traditional gypsum plastering.
Mathew Kemble, Director, Richard Kemble Contracts, explained: “I’ve completed several projects using Knauf Airless Spray Finish, and have been impressed with its excellent application and finish, so I recommended we use it here. This project really showed the system’s value compared with a full taping and jointing finish – in both time and money. Here, it worked out cost-neutral, as it didn’t require a primer sealer.”
Knauf explains that a traditional tape and jointing finish to BS 8000-8:2023 involves bedding paper joint tape into jointing compound, followed by two further stages of increasing widths of jointing compound (including drying time between each layer). A primer/sealer is then needed before a decorative finish.
Knauf Airless Finish can be applied instead of the additional passes of jointing compound in line with BS 8000-8:2023, after bedding the Knauf Paper Joint tape, and filling to the shoulders of the taper, saving time and materials, with no primer necessary before spray finish application.
Applied internally to the new facility’s plasterboard partitions at, Knauf Airless Finish is a spray applied alternative to traditional gypsum plaster. The ready-mixed finish is reportedly quicker to install than traditional methods, provides a high-quality finish, and ‘brings significant health and safety benefits’ – including less dust inhalation due to it being pre-mixed, and ‘less strain on the body’.
Mathew Kemble continues: “Compared with traditional plastering methods, it’s faster to apply, and there are fewer defects, so it saves considerable time on snagging. The end- result is a high-quality, fine finish that’s far better than traditional methods.”
Rhodri Price, Senior Site manager, BAM Construction, agrees: “The quality of the finish, combined with the speed, was fantastic. From a health and safety standpoint, there are fewer people on site and less sanding required, making for a safer site. It’s been really impressive on site, and is something we’d definitely like to use going forwards.”
The product coming ready-mixed, which minimises water needed on site, compared with traditional gypsum plastering – which uses around 1.15 litres of water per square metre – has helped contribute to the centre’s ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating.
Due for completion in 2024, the new unified breast care unit will be a ‘centre of excellence’ for breast cancer, comprising diagnostic, treatment, and counselling rooms, administrative and staff facilities, a reception and waiting area, a volunteer café, outside landscaped spaces, and parking. The purpose-built facility will be connected to the existing main Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr Hospital, which BAM Construction delivered in 2011, via a glazed link bridge.
