Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai
Specifier: Depa Interiors, Dubai
Project Manager: Depa, Dubai
Successful nonslip product: MagicGrip Slip Resistive Treatment for Tile & Stone
Slip Testing Authority: Grebnet Engineering, Australia
MagicGrip Installation: Sterling Hotel Care, Dubai
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The problem
15,000 square metres of marble were installed during the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai. Once installed, it became quickly clear that a nonslip solution would need to be found or it would need to be ripped out and replaced.
The selection process
Victoria Dakin of Depa scoured the globe for solutions. Hundreds of calls, samples and dead-ends were involved. During this process, she contacted MagicGrip in Australia who she eventually sent boxes of marble samples for treatment and testing. Grebnet Engineering (an accredited slip testing authority in Australia) was commissioned to conduct testing of the treated tiles. Wet and dry Pendulum tests were conducted, using the Australian Standards (in accordance with the British Standard and using the Stanley Pendulum test equipment as sited in that Standard).
The testing resulted in certification being issued for an X rating (average slip coefficient of 42 BPN’s) and a W rating (average slip coefficient of 51 BPN’s). Refer to the CSIRO Australian Standard chart to understand this. These ratings raised the slip coefficient of the marble to meet with, and in some cases surpass,the necessary Standards required for the Intercontinental site.
The solution
MagicGrip Slip Resistive Treatment for Tile & Stone, after an extensive global search, was found to be the only product able to solve the problem at the Intercontinental Hotel, delivering the necessary compliance to international Standards, whilst maintaining the high standards of design aesthetics.
The installation
The installation techniques that achieved the results on the sample tiles, was translated exactly by Sterling Hotel Care, the local accredited MagicGrip installer. The installation rate was $10US per square metre (exclusive of product). The installation process was done incrementally, over a 4 month period.
The result
The dangerously slippery marble surfaces at the hotel now comply with the international Standards, meaning there is a dramatic reduction in slip and falls incidents and in turn, resulting litigation. The MagicGrip treatment has increased the slip coefficient of the marble surfaces meaning the Intercontinental has demonstrated “duty of care” to its guests and staff. As a result, and in the unlikely event that a slip does occur on a treated surface at the hotel, legal and financial damages will be dramatically limited or non-existent.