Decorative water-resistant interior plaster system

A decorative, water-resistant, interior plaster system from Sto, for exclusive new Holmes Place Health Club at Wokingham.

In a demanding commercial environment, effective interior design is principally about combining functionality with the empathetic use of light, colour and materials to achieve a practical working solution, whilst at the same time creating a pleasing ambience suitable for the setting in question.

One environment in particular that makes excessive demands on these various elements is a busy, contemporary, health and leisure club - and they don't come much busier, or more contemporary, than the latest generation of Holmes Place Health Clubs.

Since the first club was opened in 1980, at a converted plumbers merchant off the Fulham Road in Chelsea, the company has expanded dramatically and there are now over 75 clubs throughout Europe, boasting a total membership of some 230,000.

Each club is equipped to an extremely high standard and offers a comprehensive range of fitness, leisure and beauty facilities - including, of course, a large pool area.

Ozone and stainless steel for the pool area.

Whether it is frequented for relaxation, or exercise, the pool area in a health club is an important feature.

It should stimulate feelings of calm and well-being in the user, but all too often there is strong evidence of chlorine in the atmosphere and an over clinical design style employed, which combine to rather dull the effect.

Not so at the new 42,000 sq ft Holmes Place development in the centre of Wokingham, Berkshire, which features two pools - a learner pool and the main pool.

Here, ozone (O3), not chlorine, is used as the decontamination element, being an excellent oxidising agent and working thousands of times faster than chlorine or bromine at removing both organic and inorganic contaminants and pathogens from the water.

Whilst the atmosphere may be easier on the nose, the design styling is certainly easy on the eye with both the learner and main pools being manufactured from stainless steel, a highly attractive finish in this environment.

Each pool was 'made-to-measure' in pre-fabricated form for the Holmes Place development and then welded on site.

The surface of the main pool is level with the floor and with special lighting from below, is designed to give the impression that the water runs straight into the wall.

StoDécor Flex - all round capability With the wall receiving a constant soaking and the surrounding environment heavy in moisture, it was essential that the material used should be impervious to water, yet at the same time have an attractive finish to meet the aesthetic requirements of the setting.

The architects responsible for the design of the Wokingham development, London based ORMS, have a great deal of experience working with Holmes Place Health Clubs throughout Europe, including the flagship sites in Vienna and Berlin - for which the practice received a Design Week commendation recently.

Robert Timms of ORMS picks up the story: "We had no hesitation in specifying StoDécor Flex.

It is the only render product that can be used in close proximity to water and it has proved extremely effective on previous projects.

The StoDécor interior plaster systems are completely water-resistant, yet their permeability still allows the wall to breathe".

A closer look at this exceptional system StoDécor Flex is a thin coat, specialist anti-crack, hard wearing interior plaster system that can be applied to interior carrier boards or existing rendered surfaces.

The carrier boards, 12mm StoVerotec, which need no primer are made from 96% recycled glass granulate, laminated both sides with a strong, protective, tear-resistant glass fibre mesh.

The Verotec boards are then overlaid with a StoDécor glass fibre mesh, embedded into a Sto RFP fibre strengthened, cement-free reinforcing coat, capable of providing up to 15 times more crack resistance than conventional modified plasters.

The system is compelted with the StoDecolit MP, acrylic, through-coloured, decorative finish plaster.

There is over 400 m2 of plastered areas at Holmes Place, Wokingham, extending from the pool area through to the changing rooms.

For additional protection, the entire surface was finished with two coats of StoColor Latex 3000, a solvent and plasticizer-free scrubbable latex paint.

Paul Brown of Regency Plastering who were responsible for all of this comments; "We have worked with Sto and their products on a number of occasions, so we had no hesitation in applying the StoDécor Flex system for the first time at the Holmes Place Leisure centre in Wokingham.

The excellent results speak for themselves." And as for the aesthetics.

The finishing colours chosen for the pool and changing room areas are a combination of burgundy, white and cream.

The colours perfectly complement the stainless steel used for the pool and their warm subtlety is enhanced by the constantly changing light values created by reflections from the water movement.

StoDécor Flex is a through-coloured plaster and to ensure complete consistency of colour throughout the project, both the plaster and the StoColor Latex 3000 finishing coat are delivered to site ready colour mixed using the unique StoColor System, an in-plant colour planning and mixing system, similar in principle to a paint tinting process.

The StoColor System provides a flexible, yet disciplined approach to the use of colour within the design environment, offering 800 interior plaster and paint finishes.

Sto offers an insurance backed warranty for StoDécor Flex and the scheme is described as offering the customer 'Complete peace of mind'.

Whatever the purpose of the visit to Holmes Place Wokingham - some gentle exercise, a serious workout, or a little unashamed pampering - functionality, combined with complete peace of mind, are just what the surroundings have been designed to provide as well.

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