10 Beautiful Sporting Venues Made Possible With Powder Coatings

Posted by on 21 September 2017

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A lot goes into designing, constructing, and decorating a sporting venue. From the colossal Olympic stadiums to the smallest squash court, they all require tough materials that can handle high levels of traffic and use, the elements, and the odd flyaway ball. 

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The Birds Nest Olympic Stadium (Powder Coated).

Sports fan or not, you probably have an idea about the sheer amount of metal that goes into these venues. All of it needs to be at least treated, and a fair amount of it will have passed through a  job shop to be coated. 

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T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas contains powder coating facades.

Anything metal can be powder coated, and stadiums are full of metal. No matter whether its exterior parts needing protection from the elements and a cool look, interiors to provide that slick and professional feel or even ‘interior’ parts that are actually open to the elements – think football or baseball stadiums! - football there is so much that will be powder coated.Façade, signage, seating, goal posts, windows, handrails …the list goes on. 

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Beijing's Water Cube was made famous during the 2008 Olympics and is powder coated.

And we haven’t even got into the structural parts that will need coating! Even if the venue is completely enclosed, designers may want certain parts coated for aesthetic purposes – or extra protection. 

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Amalie Arena in Florida achieves this beautiful look with powder coating accents.

Usually, when choosing coatings for these sorts of venues, Fluoropolymers are used for exterior applications. They are the best of the best when it comes to weathering and corrosion resistance.

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Lords cricket stadium in the UK (powder coated).

Considering that these venues are built to last, you really want to be putting your best Fluoropolymers forward. Plus, these particular coatings have warranties available when applied to architectural aluminum by a certified applicator. This is an industry-wide standard, and always a good piece of knowledge to have on hand.  

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Powder coated Olympic Stadium in London during the opening 2012 ceremony.

Stepping away from weathering, we come to scratch and mar resistance. Given the sheer number of people that are moved through large stadiums, and the frequency that smaller sporting venues are used on an hourly, daily, monthly basis, it is not surprising that the designers, architects, or owners want the best in protection.

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The roof on the main Wimbledon Tennis stadium is powder coated.

This protection can be against spilled drinks and food, wear from foot traffic, scuffs from sporting equipment or backpacks and keys,  grime, oil, and dirt residue that people track everywhere. Building such extra protection into a powder can be extremely useful in restricting wear and giving the surface a longer life. Plus, these specially formulated powders can be limited to specific areas, like a food court or walkways, which is a great way to add value to your customers. 

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Moses Mabhida Stadium, South Africa (powder coated)

While we’re on the topic of special formulas…there are also antimicrobial additives that can be added to a powder! These are great coatings for interior areas that can benefit from some anti-microbial protection and have been used in areas like gyms, bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, food areas and high-touch areas like door hardware. Again, this is a specialty powder that can be used in specific areas – don’t feel like you have to go overboard and make every surface in the venue antimicrobial! 

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Smaller venues such as this sport and recreation center on Milson Island, Australia contains powder coatings.

Now, any and every job shop knows that there are powder primers that provide additional protection to steel substrates. It is good to make sure that your clients know this too. Not every customer, or potential customer, does research prior to ordering a job. Just like the Scouts, it is always good to be prepared, so make sure that, even if the client hadn’t considered it, you bring up options like hard working primers to give additional corrosion protection to steel, the various substrate prep available, and additional protective coatings. 

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Some parts of Texas A&M University Bluebell Field are powder coated.

Sporting venues are hotbeds for people. They come from all around the country, sometimes the world, to watch athletes young and old go head to head for glory and gold. Designers and architects create a structure to last decades, and powder coatings can help them achieve that; special formulas can assist with sanitation and wear as well. There is a whole lot that you can do with powder coatings, and sporting venues need the best.