Background
Founded in 1987 and what was originally a reasonably sized house with over 14 acres of land, The Anoopam Mission soon became a beautiful Swaminarayan Temple located in a quiet and secluded part of Uxbridge in South Buckinghamshire. It opens its doors to help those who need it the most, without any discrimination of other faiths and the non-religious, of their class, creed, colour or gender.

Situation
Since 2016 SureSet have been working with the Anoopam Mission alongside MEB Design and Bread Construction to complete their project vision of creating the biggest multi-cultural campus in the United Kingdom.

Why Sureset?
It would have been easy to implement a traditional paving surface but, having seen the quality of our workmanship and attention to detail that could be produced with SureSet material, they decided to use it for all of the pedestrian surfaces. One large benefit is that SureSet can guarantee no loose stones, this is because its resin bound system completely infuses the raw material whilst leaving voids for permeability, which also influenced its specification.

Solution (PHASE 1)
The original scope of the project was to include a total area of 1180m² using SureSet resin bound paving materials on the steps and pedestrian entrance to the tranquil Temple.

The colours chosen were from a natural earthy terracotta and uplifting light sandy marble palette.

Using their specifications for guidance the areas were prepared using permeable open graded asphalt as the base, ideal for SuDS (Sustainable urban Drainage Systems).

“To see the project through each phase from the original plans to the final resin bound paving on site was incredible. It has been a great experience and a privilege to work on this type of project and we will continue to support Anoopam Mission with their plans.” - Testimonial by Dave Shell, Head of Operations at SureSet Resin Systems

Their most recent visit back to the premises of the Swaminarayan Campus, just off the A40, was for another approved building phase at Anoopam Mission. It was originally applied for in 2019 to build a Hindu Crematorium, which is said to be one of the UK’s first!

Anoopam Mission continued to use SureSet for this phase for it was an easy to maintain surface that was accessible. The aggregate colours were kept the same for consistency, creating a continuous flow around the new crematorium building, it was important to continue the same colours used in the first phase of installation as it gives a sense of connection.

The design of the crematorium building and its facilities were particularly customised and designed by local Architect Nick Mancini, from Mancini Curran Associates, to meet the needs of the Hindu community. The Planning Inspectors noted that for faith and cultural reasons, the Hindu community in the Northern and Western parts of London and surrounding counties are all disadvantaged. This is due to being denied the opportunity to entirely observe the 16th Sanskar of cultural and religious beliefs for traditional funerals and cremations.

Jay Sakaria submitted the plans to improve the hardscape areas for Anoopam Mission and stated the construction works would begin in the middle of 2022 and the crematorium will be operational by late 2023. Whilst building the structure and perfecting all the fine interior fixtures and fittings, SureSet set to work on the paving aspects with our Project Manager Harish Nakarja the Trustee of Anoopam Mission.

Preparation…
A fully permeable 14mm open-graded asphalt base was prepared by others prior to their arrival.

On the day of installation, the site team set up their working area by marking out their batches and aluminium edging placements, before adhering them to the tarmac base. Aluminium edging is supplied to them by Dural and makes a stable, crisp and clean finish between the resin bound paving and other surrounding materials.

Resin Bound Installation…

Following on from this the SureSet paving team completed a full installation of 717m² with BBA Approved resin bound materials at a 16mm depth using a hand float and their mechanical methods for the best possible finish. The main resin bound colour used was a natural warm red 3mm aggregate known as Tuscan Barley Butter. This particular aggregate was supplied by Grantex Surfacing arriving to them washed, graded, and quality checked before being bagged for delivery. SureSet Resin Systems cold mixed the aggregates with their proven high quality UV resin on site before applying the fully coated resin bound material to the pre-prepared base. The chosen warm terracotta colour was perfect to feature around the grounds as it matched the redwood window frames and exterior building features beautifully.

The second area of materials SureSet installed was 105m² of 3mm luxury resin bound marble, named Buttermilk a light white sand colour. This chosen material was also hand floated to a 16mm depth and the UV resin SureSet use will ensure the longevity of its true colour. It was used in the design as a striking decorative border around the crematorium outlining the shape of the building, blending in well with the surrounding colours which really draws your eyes towards it.

Result
Both of the above mentioned walkway areas had a blend designed by the Technical Team to deem them suitable for heavy footfall and potential vehicular traffic. The Anoopam Mission Committee and visitors alike have expressed nothing but pleasure with the outcome and feel the project has been a great success, transforming a piece of residential land into a place for the cultural community.