Coloured Bolidt Flooring Serves as Visual Reference in Deepest Car Park in the Netherlands

Four days after the opening of one of the largest buildings in the Netherlands – De Rotterdam –the city of Rotterdam broke another record. The Kruisplein underground car park opposite Rotterdam’s renovated Central Station is the deepest car park in the Netherlands. Bolidt’s application specialists worked up to 20 metres below sea level to provide the five parking levels with a sturdy surface course including several colour features.

Comfortable parking in the heart of the city

Construction firm Besix began this sizable project more than four years ago. The car park, with spaces for 760 cars over five levels, was completed at the end of November 2013. City architect Maarten Struijs’ design was inspired by American-style parking garages, in which even big trucks can comfortably drive around and park. The size of the car park made it all the more important to help drivers remember where they have parked their car. Struijs incorporated three visual reference points: parking level numbers, photo murals with distinguishing landscapes and parking bays in different colours per level.

Durable surfaces with parking areas in recognisable colours

In consultation with Besix, two flooring systems were selected for the Kruisplein car park. Bolidtop® 200 is a liquid-tight coating with enhanced wear resistance, designed to withstand the damaging effects of turning wheels, oil seepage and corrosive substances such as road salts. An additional advantage of this system is that it is available in a range of fresh colours, perfect for giving each parking level a recognisable appearance. The parts of the car park that are subject to the heaviest traffic loads, such as the ramps, the tunnel leading into the car park and the roundabout at the entrance, were fitted with Boligrip® 1250. This visco-elastic surface course has been specifically developed for high-volume vehicle traffic, such as can be expected in this 24/7 car park in the bustling centre of Rotterdam.

Vapour-permeable system for the lowest parking level

Bolidt fitted the concrete substrate at the very bottom of the car park with a vapour-open system, custom developed in Bolidt’s laboratory by its mechanical engineers, chemists, construction physicists and application specialists. The breathable coating allows ground water vapour from below to exit freely and, at the same time, is impermeable to harmful liquids on top of it. The concrete therefore remains in optimum condition and the vapour-permeable layer prevents the synthetic system from blistering. All this ensures that the city of Rotterdam will not have to worry about the car park for many years to come and has a free hand to start a new ground-breaking project.

Other car park projects

Besides the Kruisplein car park, Bolidt has recently also applied Bolidtop® coatings and Boligrip® surface courses in:
• Car park P1 at Schiphol Airport
• Car park PGGM in Zeist
• Car park University Hospital Radboudumc in Nijmegen

About Bolidt

Bolidt is the ultimate specialist in synthetic flooring for garage businesses. Bolidt understands that the automotive industry sets strict requirements for aspects such as assembly, maintenance, repairs and sales. Garage owners require a floor that prevents environmentally-harmful substances such as petrol, oil and diesel from permeating the substrate. Falling tools and high mechanical loads must not cause any problems either.

Bolidt has over 50 years' experience in the development, production, and application of synthetic flooring, and is a frequently sought-after partner for companies in the automotive industry worldwide. Garage businesses rely on Bolidt's innovative flooring because of its exceptional functional qualities such as high mechanical and chemical resistance, long service life, ease of maintenance and aesthetics.