Operating theatres are pilot users of hygienic wall cladding
Altro Aquarius, Altro Whiterock
Terveystalo in Joensuuu, Finland, has the largest network of private health services in the country. It offers versatile health, occupational health, healthcare and test services at 150 locations in Finland. Its clientele consists of private individuals, companies, insurance companies and the public sector. Terveystalo employs some 6,500 healthcare professionals.
Operating in four different locations in Joensuuu, the Terveystalo health services company wanted to bring all its healthcare functions into one centre, including doctors’ consulting facilities and hospital services. When the refurbishment and extension plans were created, specific requirements for a healthcare environment were taken into account. In addition to designing the centre to provide healthcare services, they also needed a hygienic solution for the facility, particularly for the operating theatres.
“We selected Altro Whiterock to provide the high level of hygiene needed. The wall cladding surface is perfectly even and thus easy to keep clean. When we found out about the product, it was a natural choice for us to make. Now we have this Altro Whiterock hygienic wall cladding in our two operating theatres, a treatment room and the laboratory’s analytics room,” said Petri Lempiäinen, general manager of the Joensuu Terveystalo.
The operating theatres have a pivotal role at the new centre in Joensuu, focusing on orthopedic surgery, including demanding operations such as hip and knee surgeries.
Markku Korjonen, from architectural agency Lappalainen and Korjonen Oy designed the new Terveystalo unit. Altro Whiterock was a new product for the architect. “A regular tiled surface has a great amount of grouted joints that are impossible to keep at the level of hygiene required. In areas such as in an operating theatre, the new wall cladding product was an interesting option. In practice, I expect it to be a far superior material for this purpose,” says Markku Korjonen.
Korjonen was familiar with Altro products, having specified the company’s safety flooring in a number of projects, such as commercial kitchens. Over 2,000 m² of Altro Aquarius was installed in the Joensuu Terveystalo in wet areas and post-operative rooms. “Altro’s safety flooring is not only safe and pleasant underfoot, but it is also durable, and easy to install including around drains and in corners. Furthermore, the material is easy to clean and thus hygienic. The product’s colour palette is versatile, so an architect can easily create the right tone,” said Markku Korjonen.
Altro Whiterock meets fire standards and it is particularly ideal not only in healthcare environments but also in commercial kitchens and clean rooms.
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