Exhibition Road

The Exhibition Road £32m natural stone paving project was completed on time for the London Olympics and marked the first major overhaul of Exhibition Road since it was built for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

It is now a single-level flush carriageway along its half-mile length, from Hyde Park to South Kensington Underground, capable of withstanding a constant heavy two-way flow of buses, coaches, lorries, taxis, cars, cycles, as well as 11 million walking visitors a year, whilst discouraging through-traffic and remaining pedestrian-friendly.

Unique technical design features include a laying pattern diagonal to the flow of traffic and reinforced stainless steel edge restraints, also positioned diagonal to the flow of traffic to enhance durability and extend design life.  150mm granite cubes were laid over a reinforced concrete base on Steintec tuffbed 2-pack bedding mortar with tuffbond priming mortar and tufftop high-performance jointing mortar.

The project, Initiated by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was designed by architects Dixon Jones (designers of the Royal Opera House), with a brief to modernise the street's design to reflect its cultural and architectural importance and draw together its famous museums and frontages.

Composed of nearly 17,000 square metres of granite setts, incorporating tactile and contrasting paving materials, the project took nearly two years to complete, but opened on time to entice visitors to the 2012 London Olympics.