Sherwin-Williams chosen for fire protection at iconic Milan landmark

The award-winning FIRETEX FX6002 intumescent coating system from Sherwin-Williams has been selected to deliver fire protection of a new landmark in Milan’s financial district.

UnipolSai Tower, currently under construction in the Porta Nuova district of the Italian city, will become the new local headquarters for leading Italian insurance and banking group Unipol when it opens later in 2021. 

The 31,000m² building offers a modern elliptical design over 26 stories, and is LEED Platinum certified to meet the highest environmental standards.

Having examined the priorities to protect the steel structure in the event of a fire with up to 2,000 people working there at any one time, Sherwin-Williams experts selected FIRETEX C69 Epoxy blast primer, followed by FIRETEX FX6002 methacrylate intumescent coating and a topcoat of Acrolon 7300 polyurethane for the project.

Winner of a 2021 Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation, FIRETEX FX6002 can be applied off-site, enabling paint applicators to transport steelwork in a matter of hours rather than days – which means less downtime, fewer bottlenecks and faster project completion, as specified by the steel fabricator for the construction, MAEG Costruzioni Metalliche. The super-fast drying times and off-site application also allow for greater expression of architectural design.

FIRETEX FX6002 can be applied direct to metal without the need for a primer or topcoat in some environments whilst retaining the highest levels of durability. With up to 120 minutes’ fire protection and long-term corrosion protection to the steelwork, the application of FIRETEX FX6002 makes it possible for steel sections to be coated and shipped in one day as opposed to one week in the same circumstances.

Alessio Ortolan, General Manager of Maeg Costruzioni, said: ‘This high-rise office block demands the highest level of fire protection in order to safeguard the structure and the thousands of employees inside.

‘Sherwin-Williams offered the solution we needed to coat the necessary 5,000 tonnes of steel including H profiles and rectangular beams which connect the external diagrid to the reinforced concrete core. Using FX6002 allowed us to apply off-site, leading to a quick throughput and less damage to the coated beams when lifted into place.’

FIRETEX FX6002 can be used on a diverse range of steel section types and for different fire-protection scenarios.

Valter Volta, Sherwin-Williams Regional Sales Manager for South East Europe, said: ‘Where the lives of people and safety of property are at stake, only the highest level of fire-protection measures can ensure the building’s long-term viability.’

‘FIRETEX FX6002 offers fabricators across Europe high-quality passive fire protection coatings, which also help in reducing bottlenecks and project costs.’

Projects using fire protection coatings delivered by Sherwin-Williams in EMEAI include London’s The Shard and the Leadenhall Building (known as The Cheesegrater), as well as Azerbaijan’s Flame Towers. 

For more information, visit the FX6002 website