A large office development in Newcastle has become the latest UK building to benefit from being protected by Sto’s recently launched StoColor Dryonic façade paint.
The Dryonic paint was chosen to refurbish Newburn House on the Newburn Business Park, on the basis of its’ advanced ‘stay clean’ performance, ensuring that the building will retain its attractive new appearance well into the future.
“The building façades had become stained and unsightly and a reliable solution was needed,” explains Sto’s Technical Consultant, Jim Allan.
“Although other options were considered, it emerged that using a combination of StoPrim Fungal disinfectant and StoColor Dryonic façade paint would provide the guarantee of longevity and protection against algae and fungi growth that was required.”
StoColor Dryonic paint was inspired by special micro-textures found on the shell of the fog-basking beetle. Just like the beetle’s shell, the paint uses a special composition of binding agents and filler material to create micro-textures that both repel water and channel it away at the same time. This enables the surface to dry rapidly, with any dirt being quickly washed away. The opportunity for microorganisms to grow on the surface is dramatically reduced, so any risk of staining or marking is significantly lower than other conventional façade finishes.
“The first step was to apply a coat of StoPrim Fungal to the substrate, which disinfects the surface and kills any traces of fungus or bacterial growth” explains Frank Costello of Newcastle-based Top Dec, who completed the façade refurbishment work. “This was then sealed and followed by two coats of StoColor Dryonic paint. The building is situated in a very windy valley and has lots of windows and lots of cars parked adjacent to it. Applying the Dryonic paint by spray was just not a practical option so we used roller application instead and it worked extremely well.
“We had never used Sto products previously, but both were very easy to apply. We couldn’t fault them in any way and the end result in terms of the building’s appearance is superb.”
“StoColor Dryonic is a real breakthrough in the development of intelligent coatings for building façades,” adds Jim Allan. “It can be used on all types of substrate including render, concrete, brick, metal or plastic cladding, and also on buildings fitted with an external wall insulation system. For building owners, it means that maintenance schedules and costs can be significantly reduced.”
StoColor Dryonic is part of Sto’s iQ Intelligent Technology generation of paints. Available in a very comprehensive range of colours it gives architects and designers far greater opportunity to create new and unusual façades that will stay clean and attractive for longer.