Prior to the opening of the new Miami Performing Arts Center, owners of the three-facility complex were applauding the performance of the project’s concrete floor and steel curtainwall coating systems from Tnemec Company. “They’re elated with how well the floor is holding up and with the slip resistance we were able to provide them,” according to Tnemec coating consultant Michael Woodward. “And they’re happy with the overall look of the steel, too. It’s a very high profile project.”
Florida Protective Coatings Consultants, Inc. specified the floor coating system, and Massachusetts-based Righter Group, Inc. worked directly with the project’s New York architects on the architectural and exposed steel coating system.
The concrete floor system for the project’s 2,200-seat concert hall and 2,400- seat Ballet Theater consisted of Series 280 Tneme-Glaze, a modified polyamine epoxy, which was applied with aggregate added for the desired slip resistance. “Originally, the specification called for a clear sealer on the floor,” Woodward recalled. “The architect changed the specification to a floor that offered slipresistance rather than the bare concrete with just a sealer. We had to match custom colors; one was a caramel color and one was chocolate.”
A prime coat of Series 90-97, an advanced, two-component, moisture-cured, zinc-rich aromatic urethane, was shop-applied. After erection and final touch up, the steel received an intermediate spray-applied coat of Series 66 Hi-Build Epoxoline, a polyamide epoxy. Finally, a finish coat of Series 175 Endura-Shield, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane, was applied. Originally, a coating with a gloss finish had been specified, but it was later changed to a satin finish coating to mask imperfections from the steel fabrication process.
The Miami Performing Arts Center is designed as a complex of multi-purpose, state-of-the-art performance halls, including the Carnival Concert Hall, designed for concerts of classical and popular music and serving as a venue for Miami’s orchestral groups, and the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, capable of accommodating the grand sets and scenery employed in major theatrical productions such as opera, ballet and Broadway musicals.