Wonderlab, The Bramall Gallery, National Railway Museum, York

The main Wonderlab floor was to be fully functional and easy to maintain. Polished concrete was the ideal choice, and as the existing floor was to be polished, it would be eco-friendly as there would be no additional toppings e.g., resins, tiles, and paints etc being added. The photos of the finished polished concrete floor, tell a story of how the floor has changed and evolved over many decades of use as a repair workshop. The contrasting different colours and shapes of concrete in the floor can easily be seen and shows how the concrete has been repaired and or replaced over time. These all add character to the Wonderlab itself, an aspect the project co-ordinators were keen to keep. Most of the existing surface of the concrete floor was in a poor state of repair. This was due to its previous life as an industrial workshop, with decades of oil, grime and layers of industrial paint being applied. There were a lot of damaged areas that had to be cut, removed, and replaced, cracks that had to be repaired and filled, as well as all the gaps filled adjacent to the rail tracks where previously trains had been running. The first step was to carry out a heavy grind to the whole of the concrete floor surface. This would remove up to 5mm of concrete and surface contaminants, including oil, layers of paint and ground in grime. There was also the need for additional electrical and water services, to most of the interactive exhibits. There were a number of new channels had to be cut out of the existing concrete to accommodate these. Once the services were installed, they then had to be backfilled and replacement concrete poured and polished, in line with the rest of the floor. Once all the repairs and remedial works etc had been carried out a finer grinding stage was carried out to give the floor a more uniform feel. Subsequent, even finer grinding, chemical and then diamond polishing stages were then completed. After all the polishing process had been completed, the floor was then sealed and burnished to help guard against staining and to leave the floor with low gloss sheen that was required. The final result was a patchwork quilt of different colours of concrete with varying colours of aggregate, which added a lot of character to the floor. The client was very happy with the end result, with the floor telling a story of how it had evolved over decades as an engine repair workshop. Contact us to today for any help with concrete floors.
The Wonderlab project demonstrates our experience in transforming heavily worn concrete surfaces into durable, attractive flooring. We apply this same attention to detail across commercial projects, including industrial polished concrete flooring in York for factories, workshops and production facilities. Our team combines specialist preparation, concrete repairs and professional polishing to deliver practical, long-lasting results.