Located five minutes from the Vancouver International Airport and across from the Richmond Oval skating arena built for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Ora is a prominent new community developed by the Onni Group. The project consists of three condominium and rental apartment towers, as well as a shared health and wellness center and common green spaces and gardens.
Voytek Painting, hired by Onni Group as the contractor responsible for all of Ora’s interior and exterior coatings, used Sherwin-Williams products throughout the project. For the exterior, Sherwin-Williams coatings were chosen not only to protect Ora’s concrete surfaces from Vancouver’s relentlessly rainy climate, but also to enhance and distinguish the appearance of each building. Sherwin-Williams Loxon Conditioner and Sherwin-Williams Loxon Concrete & Masonry Primer actively seal concrete surfaces and promote solid adhesion of the other products that formed the exterior finishes.
Most of the exterior concrete was finished with Sherwin-Williams ConFlex XL High Build Coating. After power-washing, crews from Voytek Painting applied a coat of Loxon Conditioner. Once that coating had cured, they used rollers with 20-mil nap to apply the ConFlex XL elastomeric finish. Two coats were sufficient to produce the 12- to 15-mil dry film thickness specified.
In sheltered areas such as loading bays that didn’t require waterproofing, crews applied a coat of white Loxon Primer. This base was finished with an additional coat of Sherwin-Williams DuraCraft Exterior Acrylic Paint.
Because Onni Group wanted a decorative yet natural look for sections where the exterior concrete is more visible, Voytek Painting used H&C Concrete Stain Solid Color Water-Based Coating in Otter Brown and Silver Half Dollar in select areas. These stains penetrate and protect the concrete surface, evening out its color while still allowing the reveals and texture produced by the formwork to show through.
Although any of these coatings can be applied by brush, roller or spray equipment, Voytek “Walter” Wochowski, president of Voytek Painting, chose mostly roller application to avoid potential problems with overspray on the large glass areas of the buildings.
