Case study

St Peter's College, Oxford: a full kitchen refit in a one-week shutdown

We stripped out the college kitchen's 20-year-old floor and replaced the floors and walls with a sealed, hygienic finish, working through a week-long shutdown and out of hours so the kitchen was back in service on time.

St Peter's College kitchen wash-up area before: old safety flooring peeling and breaking up around the drains — Beforewash-up area, old floor failing

St Peter's College wash-up area after: new Altro Stronghold K30 safety floor coved 100mm up the walls, heat-welded — Afternew Altro Stronghold K30, coved and welded

Client: St Peter's College, Oxford
Areas: Main kitchen, wash-up, corridors and service areas
Timescale: One-week shutdown, including out-of-hours working
Floor: Altro Stronghold K30 safety flooring, coved 100mm, heat-welded and thermoformed
Preparation: Old flooring removed, epoxy DPM, F. Ball latex smoothing compound
Walls: Hygienic PVC wall cladding with a two-part clip trim system

On site

Working in the heart of the college

St Peter's is a working college in the centre of Oxford, and its kitchen feeds students and staff every day. We fitted around college life, working through the one-week kitchen shutdown and out of hours so the kitchen was back in service on time.

Oxford Flooring Specialists van parked by the historic stone buildings at St Peter's College, Oxford — Our van on site at St Peter's College, Oxford

How we did it

Five stages, all completed inside the college's one-week kitchen shutdown.

1
Strip out
We ripped up the old 20-year-old flooring back to the concrete, and dug out and cleaned the recessed access covers so they could be finished flush.

Old floor ripped up to the concrete
Access covers dug out and cleaned
2
Epoxy damp-proof membrane
An epoxy DPM went down across the whole kitchen and wash-up, sealing the slab so moisture can't affect the new floor.

Epoxy DPM across the main kitchen
Epoxy DPM in the wash-up
3
Latex smoothing
We laid F. Ball latex smoothing compound over the DPM for a flat, level base. Safety flooring shows every bump underneath, so this stage matters.

$F. Ball smoothing compound (latex) laid smooth and level up to the kitchen service lift$
F. Ball latex, smooth and level
$Latex smoothing compound being laid over the epoxy DPM$
Latex going down over the DPM
4
Hygienic wall cladding
The walls were lined with white hygienic PVC cladding, set out with a laser and finished with a two-part clip trim system.

Hygienic PVC cladding set out with a laser
Clad walls with coved, welded floor
5
Altro Stronghold K30, coved and welded
Finally we laid Altro Stronghold K30 safety flooring, coved 100mm up every wall. Every joint is heat-welded and the corners are thermoformed, so floor and walls form one sealed, wipe-clean surface.

Close-up: thermoformed, welded corner
Coving worked round the dumbwaiter
Access cover infilled to match