STREET CLEANING & GRAFFITI REMOVAL
All Change At King’s Cross
We hear about a recent project from Keep Britain Tidy, who have been working to clean up the concourses at the world-renowned King’s Cross station.
Through our Network, the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy works with a range of local authorities, land managers and service providers that share our charity’s aims: to eliminate litter, reduce waste and improve local places.
One of our Network members, Community Clean, shared with us the story of their concourse restoration work at King’s Cross station, and we felt it would be an interesting case study for Tomorrow’s Cleaning’s readers.
With an estimated annual footfall of more than 47 million commuters and tourists, it is no wonder that the King’s Cross station concourse became worn, dull and strewn with steadfast chewing gum. It was in desperate need of restoration and protection.
After the Station Manager had seen another project being carried out by the Community Clean team at a nearby site, a proposal was requested, resulting with swift instruction to carry out the works.
King’s Cross station’s concourse measures 8,500 square metres. This includes the arrivals and departure courts, toilets, restaurant and retail areas.
Due to the level of dirt and staining on the concourse, Community Clean not only proposed a deep clean of the granite slabs, but also the application of a hardwearing and durable protective coating to treat the surface.
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With King’s Cross being a vital transport hub, both within London and linking London to the East Coast main line, avoiding commuter disruption was key during this project. To minimise disruption, Community Clean’s technicians had extremely restricted engineering hours in which to work. It could only start at 11pm and had to finish by 5am the following morning, giving just a six-hour window of opportunity each night.
To maximise the efficiency of restricted time windows, Community Clean technicians used the Aquila water recovery system to deep clean each area. Through this system’s recovery and recycling of water, it prevents the station floors from flooding, whilst also being more eco- friendly in its water use.
Each section was systematically cleaned and dried, ready to then receive the water-based protective coating. Cleaning and drying the surface first allows the coating to penetrate the substrate of the granite fully, ensuring maximum absorption and longer lasting protection. The coating creates a barrier that prevents staining of the surface as well as making it less adhesive to chewing gum, resulting in the surface becoming much easier to clean and maintain to a high standard.
The project was a huge success, with the granite concourse immaculately restored to its former glory. The
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treatment has led to a demonstrable improvement to the station’s standard cleaning practices. Furthermore the treatment is covered by a six-year guarantee accompanied with annual durability tests to ensure the coating is fully-effective.
While our Local Environmental Quality survey of England would not have included station concourses such as King’s Cross, the survey results are of wider interest to those responsible for managing land and facilities. Keep Britain Tidy’s annual survey (2013/14) found that 88% of the sites surveyed were at or above an acceptable standard for staining. And since 2001, when the survey began, the general trend has been a reduction in staining. However, staining did increase in 2013/14 compared to the previous year. Greater London showed the lowest average grade when it came to staining.
Some staining will occur naturally, while other forms, such as chewing gum, are a result of people’s actions. In 2013/14 chewing gum was recorded at 62% of all sites surveyed. Staining can be an indicator of the presence and quality of cleansing activity. It is therefore of interest and importance to land managers.
www.communityclean.co.uk www.keepbritaintidy.org
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