Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham

Ultrascape Flowpoint handles slopes, steps and dancing diggers with ease!

A scheme aimed at attracting more restaurants to the Birmingham Bullring has been completed. Paving was constructed by P.J. Carey (Contractors) Ltd. using Ultrascape’s flowable grout, Flowpoint.

Set around St Martin’s Square, the Spiceal Street scheme has created a new area of restaurants and enhancements to the areas public realm.

Ultrascape’s Flowpoint was specified, and was instrumental in the area’s successful development. The scheme is on a slope, which leads up to one of the Bullring’s main entrance areas, therefore several flights of steps were constructed. Both make the laying of paving challenging but Ultrascape’s flowable grout is ideal for such a construction.

Ultrascape Flowpoint was specified for use on this project because it is ideal for urban regeneration schemes, allowing large areas to be pointed quickly, and with ease, then simply washed clean. Due to the product’s rapid setting performance, paving grouted with Flowpoint can be opened to pedestrians in just 1 hour and vehicular traffic after only 4 hours, minimising disruption. Furthermore, Ultrascape Flowpoint meets and exceeds all of the requirements of the latest British Standard, BS 7533. This British Standard promotes professional results that can give a minimum construction life of 40 years.

The product is suitable for almost all paving types, including sandstone, limestone, concrete and granite. It is fast and efficient to apply leaving a perfect, stain free finish. Ideal for wide or narrow joints, Flowpoint can accommodate widths of 5-50mm and depths of up to 200mm in a single pass. It is therefore, just as equally suited to irregular granite setts as it is to large profile stone paving.

In addition, Flowpoint is also available in ECO, offering all the regular benefits of the grout but containing 20% recycled material, significantly reducing the consumption of virgin aggregates – a must if seeking BREEAM or CEEQUAL accreditation.

On completion of the scheme the street was opened with a special performance which saw diggers dance with humans on the newly laid paving. Another testament to the characteristics of Flowpoint, a product which achieves 49.6N/mm² compressive strength (28 days).