Hygienic Wall Coating for Pharmaceutical Company

Goss were recently, once more, contracted to complete a complex hygienic wall coating project for a pharmaceutical company based at Cambridge Science Park.

Cambridge Science Park was originally established by Trinity College in 1970. It has since grown to become home to over 170 businesses. It is now one of Europe’s prime locations for research-intensive businesses.

The aim of this project was to create a fully hygienic environment to support the pharmaceutical company in their research. The work required to achieve the high-quality fully hygienic finish was complex and required careful planning. 

Following a detailed project survey and risk assessment, we held technical conversations with the project’s working group. These discussions helped to ensure the right decisions were made as to which products and hygienic wall coatings would achieve the desired results. 

Stage 1:  Making good and surface preparation

To provide the foundation for the project, it was necessary to undertake full surface preparation at the outset. The preparation stage is a vital part of the project. It ensures the wall coating to properly adhere to the surface and delivers the hygienic environment for the long term. 

This initially required the removal of any loose or flaking materials on all surfaces. Following this, the team was able to make good any dents or scuffs on the surface to ensure every surface was completely smooth. 

Due to the sheer height of the room, the team needed to bring in a secure access system to reach the ceiling safely and efficiently. 

Stage 2: Coving installation and more making good

In order to avoid as many 90-degree angles as possible for a cleaner and more hygienic finish, coving was installed at all wall-to-wall and wall-to-ceiling junctions. They were installed with adhesive to fill voids and help deliver additional hygienic protection.

Again, the team made sure that the coving had adhered to the joints securely and that no small voids existed. 

Stage 3: Installation of hygienic wall coatings

The installation process itself is also broken down into defined phases.

Phase 1: The initial phase of the installation process creates general protection along with priming of the surfaces. For this project, the team used specialist primer, bodycoat, chopped strand mat, and tissue embedded into bodycoat, gel coat, for the walls. The ceilings received specialist primer, bodycoat, tissue, and a gel coat. The ceilings received specialist primer, and bodycoat, tissue and a gel coat too.

Phase 2: In the second phase, the team applied the fibre glass system to the surfaces to be treated. This was done very carefully and was quality-checked at every stage. Once completed, the team rechecked on practical completion. For this phase, the team applied the penultimate specialist finishing coat in eggshell white. 

Phase 2 was carried out over a period of approximately 3 days. 

Phase 3: After phases 1 and 2 had been completed and checked to ensure the high-quality standards had been achieved, the finishing coat of specialist gloss white was applied. Once the team was happy that the final coat had fully dried and was checked, they de-masked the area. 

Upon the completion of the final quality checks, the team was able to sign off the project with the client.

There were aspects of this project that were challenging and required our team to carefully plan and showcase their expertise. We are pleased to say, our client was confident that the system had ticked all their boxes for their new pharmaceutical asset’s requirements. We look forward to working with them again in the future.