KNAUF AQUAPANEL ‘POUNDS’ ITS WAY TO CENTRE OF COMMUNITY
A major new complex is set to be completed this year, offering a wide range of community resources for local residents in Portsmouth.
Knauf Aquapanel and other products and systems from Knauf Drywall are used extensively in the £7.36 million development at the John Pounds Centre, part of the regeneration in the Portsea conservation area, near the Historic Dockyard.
The new complex, designed for Portsmouth City Council by Capita Symonds and built by Fitzpatrick, adjoins an existing community centre and includes a sports hall, library, youth workshops, and rooms for police and local housing officials.
Sub-contractors AT Jones & Son of Fareham installed 300m2 of Knauf Aquapanel for tile backing in the toilets and shower areas, and also to provide attractively curved walls in the foyer and corridors of the irregularly shaped building. Contracts Manager Gareth Ball says the glass-reinforced cement board was specified by the architects – and it had impressed the installers. “They reported that it was very easy to work with and it was certainly much lighter than expected.”
Aquapanel is designed as a high performance tile backing board with its own range of fire and sound rated partitions and linings. It is a tough, impact-resistant board that retains its strength in damp or moist conditions – and even if fully immersed in water. It is also frost/thaw resistant, unaffected by high temperatures and vermin/rot proof.
AT Jones was also responsible for drylining elsewhere throughout the 4,000m2, two-storey complex. It used 10,900m2 of plasterboard from Knauf Drywall’s range – including specialist boards Moistureshield, Vapourshield, Soundshield, and Fireshield as well as standard Wallboard. The drylining was fixed to Knauf steel building systems based on 50mm Knauf C studs or 70mm Knauf Acoustic C Studs.
The community centre is a memorial to John Pounds (1766-1839) who, as a 15-year-old apprentice shipwright in Portsmouth, fell into a dry dock and was crippled for life. He became instead a successful shoemaker – and then used his St Mary’s Street shop to teach local children to read. As a pioneer of free education for the poor, his reputation earned him the title Man of the Millennium in a local newspaper poll in 1999.
More details on Knauf Aquapanel can be found in a comprehensive new brochure from Knauf Drywall. For your free copy, call 08700 613 700 or you can download a pdf from this site.