Medite Tricoya, the Extremely Durable MDF, has been utilised in the refurbishment of the Beach House and Café at Lepe Country Park, Southampton.
Specified by Hampshire County Council Property Services and built by Dorelbury Ltd of Fareham, the building’s fascia required a material that is long lasting against harsh weather exposure, yet environmentally sound and cost effective too; Medite Tricoya met those exact needs.
Lepe is a coastal Country Park in the New Forest National Park with views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. The project was to replace defective plywood fascias on the café and shop, which were degrading and delaminating in the aggressive external saline environment.
The project required a product that provided a level of stability and durability, plus a high quality finish that could be easily painted. Medite Tricoya presented the solution.
Medite Tricoya benefits from the latest advancements in acetylation technology, which naturally alters the raw wood’s chemical structure so that water absorption does not affect it. When processed into MDF panels the result in a more dimensionally stable MDF that won’t swell, shrink or decay – making it extremely durable.
It is also incredibly convenient and versatile, embodying all the benefits of MDF. It is therefore relatively light weight, easy to handle, machine and drill. In this instance the panels were pre-drilled and pre-painted in the factory using Sikkens Rubbol Primer Plus and Sikkens Rubbol XD Gloss, with only the top-finishing coat of Sikkens Rubbol XD Gloss applied on site.
“I specified Medite Tricoya as I wanted a stable, easily machined and fixed timber product which could take a paint finish and would have reasonable longevity in an aggressively saline, wet, windy environment where excessive UV exposure also presents a challenge,” explains Tony Currie from Hampshire County Council Property Services.