The brand new Altro Fortis system is giving much-needed protection to walls and doors in high traffic areas at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in South East London.
Altro Fortis TitaniumTM wall protection and Altro FortisTM door protection have been fitted within the Ruskin Wing which, with nine floors, is the tallest building on the hospital campus. It houses many of the neurology wards and the Critical Care Unit — which means it is one of the many high traffic areas on the site, with beds and medical equipment constantly rushing through at speed.
This activity has had an inevitable impact on the doors and walls, creating scuffing, dents and more serious damage. The hospital needed a solution that would protect the doors and walls long-term, look good and be easy to clean and maintain.
The hospital’s senior projects manager, Christel Garton, says: “Altro were aware of the issues we were having with damage to the walls and doors and they suggested we try their new Altro Fortis Titanium wall cladding, and Altro Fortis door protection.
“We have used Altro here before, with great success, so I was keen to see if this new product could work for us on the walls in the entrance lobby to the Ruskin Wing, two corridors to the lift lobby, and on a double fire doorset in the general circulation area. These are very busy areas and they have really taken the brunt over the years.”
Altro Fortis Titanium is constructed from highly durable uPVC semi-rigid sheet, which is dense, impervious material, resistant to bumps. It features a lightly textured surface, which camouflages scuffs, keeping the wall area looking better for longer.
Available in ten colours, including muted and vibrant shades, Altro Fortis Titanium matches many of the popular shades from the Altro Whiterock SatinsTM hygienic wall cladding range. This offers flexibility when it comes to design, making it a versatile solution across a range of areas. Plus the colour runs throughout, reducing the visibility of knocks or scrapes.
With an impervious, easy-to-wipe surface, Altro Fortis Titanium improves cleanability which is a major advantage within its recommended application areas.
The Altro Fortis Titanium wall cladding at the hospital was installed by Absolute Interiors, an Altro Whiterock Premier Installer. Director Paul Kinggett said: “We used 15 panels (45m2) of the product in the shade Pearl and each of these had to be thermoformed to fit around internal angles, corners and door frames. The product was installed at height of 1.2m from floor level, which is the area that suffers the most damage.
“This was our first time using new Altro Fortis Titanium, but we found just as easy to work with and fit as Altro Whiterock hygienic wall cladding,” adds Paul. “It goes on with a two-part adhesive, which is troweled on to the back of the sheet. It’s quick to install as well, just a two-day project — one day to thermoform the product in our workshop, then one day to install.”
Altro Whiterock Premier Installer, Elite Interiors, took on the project of removing the original door set and installing the new Altro Fortis doorset, which was completed within a day onsite to minimise the down time for the hospital. The original timber corridor doors were showing signs of damage to the edges, so they were replaced with Altro’s bespoke FD60 fire doorset that has its own standalone BS 476 part 22 fire certificate. This was fully encapsulated with Altro Fortis, again in the shade Pearl, to give a more robust hygienic doorset for the hospital.
Elite Interiors Director Jason Carter says: “Altro Fortis is a good product to be used on high traffic areas were protection and infection controlled environments are necessary.”
Altro Fortis door protection is available as either complete doorsets or door panels. Doorsets are a fully-clad, custom-made solution, providing optimum protection with the product covering both sides of the door and its edges. Door panels are ideal for protecting sections of doors where they need it most, helping prevent scuff and impact damage. These can be cut to any size from the standard Altro Fortis Titanium sheet.
The new Altro Fortis walls and doors have now been in place for more than six months at the hospital, and senior projects manager, Christel Garton, is delighted with the positive effect it has had on the Ruskin Wing, both in terms of damage control and aesthetics.
“Altro Fortis is proving to be the perfect solution for us, because it completely takes the worry out of how to protect doors and walls in this busy environment. It also looks superb and is very easy to clean, we just wipe it down as needed. We will definitely be using Altro Fortis again.”