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ITALIAN PRESCHOOL WAS DECORATED USING THE ARTWALK POLYURETHANE FLOOR COATING SYSTEM
To create an environment that the children accept as their own, the Italian city of Cogoleto west of Genoa achieved this important goal with the “I made this...” project. When redecorating the classrooms of the Don Milani preschool in Cogoleto, children’s drawings were recreated on the floors in greatly enlarged form using the Artwalk decorative floor coating system from Bayer MaterialScience AG. The coating was formulated and applied by Api S.p.A. of Mignanego, Italy, which is one of six companies with which Bayer MaterialScience has entered into cooperative agreements for the formulation, design and application of Artwalk. Animals, games, landscapes, the children gave their imaginations free reign while drawing. The new rooms were dedicated in September in the presence of the mayor and representatives of both Api and Bayer MaterialScience. But the actual protagonists were the children, who admired their works of art while running around on them. They now say “I made this...,” when playing in the school. The floors have become the school’s main optical attraction. “Artwalk brand decorative floor coatings offer nearly unlimited design freedom,” said Werner Ebert, responsible for floor coatings at Bayer MaterialScience. “What pleased me most was when a little girl walked into the classroom, pointed to a drawing on the floor and said to her father: ‘That’s mine!’,” said Ciro Scialó, Head of the Building Division at Api. The Artwalk brand custom floor coatings are based on two-component polyurethane systems formulated with raw materials from the Bayhydrol and Bayhydur or the Desmodur and Desmophen product lines from the Coatings, Adhesives and Sealants Business Unit of Bayer MaterialScience AG. Application of the floor coatings begins with the laying down of a solid-colored primer. The liquid casting resin is then applied in the colors, patterns and motifs of the design by applicators who move across the liquid coating in spiked shoes. Finally, the walkable art is sealed with a transparent, highly abrasion-resistant polyurethane coating capable of standing up to the rigors of romping children for years to come. When completed, the monolithic floors are free of seams and joints. Depending on the ambient temperature and humidity, the coatings can be walked on after as little as 24 hours. Besides the high abrasion resistance, the floor coatings are also insensitive to cleaning agents and chemicals, and won’t fade or yellow. In addition to Api, Bayer MaterialScience has also entered into co-branding agreements with Bolidt (The Netherlands), Boulenger (France), Hermeta Chemie and AB Polymerchemie (both in Germany) and Flowcrete Group plc (U.K.), from whom end consumers can procure the decorative floor coatings. Additional information about Artwalk in general, reference projects to date and our partners listed above can be found on the Artwalk homepage at www.artwalk.bayer.com. http://www.bayermaterialscience.com
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