Thurn & Taxi Brussels
Thurn and Taxi is a former goods station and an industrial storage space in Brussels. The goods station was closed down in 1994. The Royal Warehouse was completely restored. The site is currently being redeveloped as an event venue, business centre, park, and residential area. Among other things, events such as the BRAFA and Art Brussels antiques fairs, the Brussels Design Market, and the Festival Couleur Café are organised here.
Our approach
Aalterpaint was asked to preserve the existing steel structures with a coating system that can guarantee a long service life in these urban surroundings. We searched for a system with optimal covering of the edges and strong adhesion to any remaining adhesive old primer coatings. Several tests with UHP water jetting were carried out, in addition to adhesion tests for various solvent and solvent-free Aalterpaint coatings. The best system proved to be an Aalterpaint system in several coatings, with a solvent-free epoxy paint as a primer and polyurethane as a topcoat. The epoxy system provides a good coverage for the edges of the sometimes sharp rivets and bolts that are part of this existing structure. The epoxy paint can also be applied at rather low temperatures, which of course benefits the project planning.
Result
Currently, the inside is as good as ready, and work is being executed on the outside structure, which is cleaned and will subsequently be finished. All work is on schedule and meets the technical goals set in advance.