Many superstitions remain unexplained.
But when it comes to the banging and clanging during the night, it appears a ghost dubbed Harry at the Pyrmont Fire Station has become legendary.
Until now.
Harry, who apparently settled in the 1970s in the Pyrmont Fire Station located at 197 Pyrmont St., in Pyrmont, Sydney, is suspected to seek a new haunt now the iconic building has undergone much-needed renovations.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Stuart Ayres and Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins announced the $2.7 million upgrade of the station building.
While the fireys are celebrating news of the much-needed renovations, resident spook Harry may not be so pleased; however, a lot of firefighters who have passed through this station over the years have their own stories to tell about him. But it was time to move forward for the station and Harry with an elaborate facelift, transforming the station into a first-class, modern, sophisticated and functional, facility.
Integral to the 16-month make-over were principal contractor Artel constructions, Ispecs and award-winning flooring and wall specialist Honestone, in conjunction with Ardex Australia.
Artel constructions director Fyaz Gill said the company was honoured to take over the direction of the building and was buoyant that the refurbishment was a success.
Working from the ground up, Gill said lead paints and asbestos took four to five months to remove and seismic work was done to resist a potential natural disaster.
“The extension took three months, then five months for the slab and lasiations,” he said.
Ardex Australia NSW specification manager Mark Zangari said with a noticeably finer aggregate, the PanDomo TerrazzoMicro was the chosen finish, producing a homogenous and elegant finish.
“Being an engineered system by Ardex, the ratios all work together to ensure the right amount of marble chip is being displayed in the finish, something which often doesn’t happen with conventional polished concrete finishes,” he said. “Considerably thinner than traditional terrazzo does not sacrifice in the strength of the floor, with it able to be used in high-traffic areas. The shinier material thickness also ensures minimal material consumption, which combined with the low-VOC finish provides some excellent green attributes for the flooring system. With the Pyrmont Fire Station a white aggregate was used with a white binder in order to give the floor a nice, simple and sleek look. This assisted in accentuating the dark and face brick walls.”
Honestone director Rick Hendriks, in conjunction with an Ispecs spokesperson, said the polished concrete component was a medium diamond grind to partially expose the aggregate in a “hit and miss” appearance whilst the terrazzo flooring was Barossa White marble with White Ardex PanDomo TerrazzoMicro cement.
“The finish was impeccable, extremely aesthetic and functional,” Hendriks said. “Our team worked tirelessly to perfect the project and we could not be happier with the results.”
Ardex’s flooring contractor Greg Rees said the finished look was “really good.
“Honestone did a great job,” he said. “There are little number of people we trust in NSW but we trust Honestone. This is by far the best terrazzo job I have seen so far.”
Gill said he was “delighted to with work of Honestone. Honestone were very professional and easy to work with,” he said. “I would recommend Honestone on any project.”
Projects amongst the masterful solutions Honestone can offer also include terrazzo flooring, polished concrete floors, utilizing floor sealers, epoxy garage floor coatings, alternative epoxy flooring/coatings, concrete leveling, concrete grinding, and – naturally for this superior enterprise – any matter pertaining to concrete is resolute.
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