We sat down with John Theewis of Eurolacke Powder Coatings, Axalta’s distributor in The Netherlands, to find out about their City Collection which features coatings in the official municipal colours for 12 cities across the Netherlands.

What inspired you to create the City Collection?

Axalta powder coatings are an excellent option for street furniture – including street benches, bins, bus shelters and lamp posts. It made sense to make coatings choices for our cities more straightforward for municipal teams, manufacturers, architects and consultants.

Is there much variation from city to city?

Yes, there is – not only in colour but also in finish. Some cities employ a range of colours: Leeuwarden, for example, has eight colours. Others are more restrained, such as Haarlem with three colours. Many of the city palettes are RAL; others, like Rotterdam, use NCS coatings. Amsterdam differs in that its palette features metallics and fine textures.

What are the key factors when specifying coatings for urban street furniture?

The client wants to know how to make the products look good for longer. Durability is achieved by treating the substrate appropriately before applying the final coating and by specifying coatings that are weather proof and corrosion resistant. Axalta’s Alesta® SD SuperDurable Architectural coatings carry Qualicoat Class 2 and GSB Florida 3 quality labels, which means they perform excellently outdoors under severe conditions.

Are there any other factors that prolong the life of street furniture?

One of the biggest mistakes is to design sharp edges. This makes the substrate more vulnerable to corrosion as the thickness of the coating is reduced on any sharp edges. 

When moisture gets closer to the substrate, this leads to corrosion.

Do you think carefully considered coatings for street furniture can enhance city life?

Yes, from both aesthetic and technical perspectives. When a product has a high-quality coating it tends to be more respected by the public, which results in less vandalism. Also, when you use fine texture coatings with steel or aluminium, the product feels warmer and is more inviting – this is desirable for benches and handrails.

Another good example is the application of the Alesta® Cool coatings from Axalta. They enhance solar reflection and reduce heat transfer to the metal by up to 20%; this is an advantage for products such as public seating and even rubbish bins. These coatings lower the mechanical stress on the metal too, so as well as making the design more user-friendly, these coatings provide longevity.