Purpose Built Health and Care Hub

Residents of Ballymena have been built a brand new health and care centre in a £25million investment for the town.

The new centre is currently the largest of its kind in Northern Ireland and brings together a number of local GP practices that will deliver a range of acute, primary and community care, adult and children’s services.

From dental services to diagnostic, physiotherapy and X-ray departments, the centre also provides an out-of-hours Dalriada Urgent Care Service.

For this major urban scheme AG’s contemporary Plaza Paving in Pepper (Slate) and Salt (Silver) was integrated into the design to create clean, sleek lines surrounding the centre.

The premium granite water-etched paving provides a hardwearing landscaping solution for the environs of the centre, providing durability and slip resistance which is a necessity for a hub of heavy footfall.

Precision made for trouble-free laying, the plaza paving creates a rich, modern look and was chosen for its high-end aesthetic appeal and quality.

The Challenge

Mitchells Landscape Architects sought paving that would withstand the test of time with as little maintenance as possible in order to present a true value-for-money solution for the client.

The young and active student population due to reside in the complex made it vital that the paving provided a safe nonslip surface and was resistant to stains and chewing gum. Durability was also key.

The Solution

In order to meet Mitchells’ requirement for the paving to be maintenance free for up to 30 years, AG supplied 1700m2 of block paving in a 400 x 200 x 80mm format through their partnership with RINN from Germany.

The surface of the paving was treated with a factory-applied external sealant and two colours were used – light grey and dark grey. With its state of the art, non-stick properties the sealed paving means there is no penetration of dirt into the paving surface.

It also means that the reinstatement of the original finish can easily be achieved with mechanical washing devices. Also the costly exercise of removing chewing gum is minimised when using the sealant.

The paving provided an attractive solution befitting high quality accommodation whilst providing cost savings to the client due to its low maintenance, robust nature.