Wood Green Library

Application of the new concrete facade on the 5-storey Wood Green Library by a Rhinoceros team has been completed. 

The project required 64 tons of concrete to complete 638 square meters of facing.

The exterior upgrade follows extensive interior refurbishments by Haringey Council including painting and decorating, new flooring and a deep clean from top to bottom as well as more books, better access to computers and a revamped business lounge. 

The building originally had a tiled façade, but this had been removed about 25 years ago leaving unsightly bare and damaged concrete.

Concrete spraying was done by Gunite and Shotcrete Services (GSSL), they  had removed all old loose mortar and tile adhesive and fixed expanded metal lathing. Amongst the barriers to the project, which took from October 2014 to February 2015, were periods when all work had to stop to avoid disruption of oral exams  by Ofsted  in the library.

A design change to change the slop[e at the top of each parapet  added considerably to the volume of concrete required. GSSL applied the pigmented ready-mix concrete by spray, with Rhinoceros providing hoists and platforms to bring all materials into position.