It’s been a busy and fulfilling year for us here at Dural. Our projects have been diverse to say the least! We have seen our products installed all over the country and further afield. From shopping centres and designer fashion outlets to theatres and train stations. Here we highlight just a few of our favourites....

We were particularly delighted to be asked to supply coloured movement joints for Leeds Railway station. It is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds, in fact it is the fourth busiest railway station in the UK outside London. Dural worked in conjunction with Northern Star flooring to renovate a section of floor within the new south entrance concourse. Northern Star Flooring is an experienced resin floor contractor based in the North of England. The first phase began in 2018 and the project involved the redevelopment and modernisation of the main southern concourse. The plans also included a new roof and stunning glazed facade in addition to more floor space. The flooring specified is used by the station’s 100,000 daily users. Dural was integral in offering technical advice on how to install their coloured movement joints for this huge expanse of floor. This product is a 22mm stainless steel coloured movement joint. Epoxy resin flooring does have some tolerance for movement, however to avoid cracking and delamination of an epoxy resin screed floor, movement joints needed to be included.

Excitingly, Dural is often also approached to provide flooring accessory solutions for many high end retailers and fashion brands. Here we highlight a recent project for Hugo Boss, Bicester Designer Outlet. Bicester Village is a designer outlet centre situated on the outskirts of Bicester, a town in Oxfordshire. It opened in 1995 and has become hugely popular. Hugo Boss, the luxury fashion brand, selling clothing, accessories and footwear asked Dural to provide products and advice for their new store opening at the designer outlet. The beautiful high texture tiled floor was calculated to be approximately 300m2. For a high class finish, coloured movement joints were specified in order to give the room a seamless, high end finish as expected by such a prestigious brand and their customers. Coloured movement joints are available in any RAL colour and here Dural matched them to the tile colour. They are often used in retail space because of their durability and ability to handle a wide range of loadings and constant footfall.

Dural was also delighted to be part of the redevelopment of the Adam Smith theatre which had a major capital investment by Fife Council who have worked in conjunction with architect Gavin Turner. When the theatre reopened this year it provided the town and community with a much needed hub to work, rest and play! The first phase was to redevelop the auditorium with new seating and carpet. Phase two encompassed both design and architectural vision. Each space needed to be both practical and functional. There is a busy foyer and box office area which has to endure a high footfall. There are areas in this project where ceramic tile flooring has been specified. In these areas the architect uncovered a variety of floor substrates which meet at differing levels within the new spaces. Dural was integral in offering technical advice on how to install their Durabase CI++ matting which had been specified by the main contractor on this project. This product is a multifunctional matting system, it has a 3 layer construction which offers many more advantages than just decoupling. It has crack-bridging properties and optimised shearing force protection. Perfect for this project!

Moving forward into 2024 Dural will be pleased to supply a range tiling products and trims for many varied and exciting projects. Our resolution for the New Year ahead will be to provide not only high quality products but also expert advice for all our clients throughout the UK and to work closely with architects, contractors, and other professionals, to ensure successful specification and project success! Dural also provides highly competent support for any tiling project. No matter how complex the application we can provide the perfect solution, products and service.

If you would like further information regarding any of our products, including Durabase CI++ matting or Movement Joints, please telephone our UK head office on 01924 360110