When Colchester Academy in Essex urgently required a new sports floor for their main hall and their dance studio, they turned to international flooring specialist Gerflor for an Olympic pedigree solution. For this prestigious education establishment, Gerflor would supply a total of 552m2 of their world class Taraflex® Performance vinyl sports flooring in ‘Dark Blue’ for the sports hall, and 258m2 of their Taraflex® Combi 85 System in Evolution ‘Pure Concrete Grey’ for their dance studio. Gerflor were specified for this refurbishment project, primarily because of the technical benefits the sports floors could deliver for the facility users, including a high degree of comfort, safety, and performance, as well as a solution that could be delivered on time and to budget.
Colchester Academy strives hard to ensure that young people receive the very best education, realise their full potential, and are prepared to become responsible and successful citizens. As part of this vision, the staff employed by the Academy, wanted to enhance the students’ passion gained during their Key Stage 3 and outside experiences of PE and use this within this vocational qualification. To achieve this ambition, the school had to secure the safest indoor playing surface, in order to contribute to their students sporting on-going development.
The responsibility for delivering an exceptional quality design and finish for the school’s sports halls would fall to Braintree-based architectural practice- Barker Associates. Barker is an integrated property consultancy that designs, creates, and manages inspiring, sustainable spaces where people live, learn, work and play. They are a passionate, enthusiastic, and committed team who love what they do.
Ben Jeapes, Senior Building Surveyor at Barker Associates commented, “At Barker we work closely with a number of education clients, including Multi-Academy Trusts such as South Suffolk Learning Trust (SSLT). We were approached by SSLT to provide Design and Project Management services for this project and were subsequently appointed as Principal Designer.”
On specification Ben Jeapes went on to comment, “I have specified Gerflor products in the past and know that they provide excellent quality safety flooring. I am also aware that Gerflor specialise in world class sports flooring and have the option of numerous systems for different levels of performance, or to accommodate different types of sub-floor construction found in refurbishment projects such as Colchester Academy.”
Ben Jeapes had identified the need for a replacement flooring in the main hall and specified Taraflex® Performance. However, the dance studio required a specific solution for the location to address the needs of the onsite users.
This is where Taraflex® Evolution surface was specified together with an undercarriage, thus Gerflor’s complete Taraflex® Combi 85 System proved the ideal solution for that hardworking environment. This System is an ultimate combination solution comprising of a fully height-adjustable cradle and batten substructure overlaid with plywood, finished with a 7.5mm thick Taraflex® Evolution playing surface. The perfect duo provides one of the highest specification sports floorings available with optimum safety and ball bounce.
On installation Ben Jeapes added, “We discovered a number of existing defects with the sub floor that needed to be addressed prior to the installation of the flooring. These included trapped moisture, lack of ventilation and level changes. We specified a new reinforced concrete slab to provide a suitable sub-base at the correct levels ready to receive the Gerflor Taraflex® Combi-85 system. This solution avoided the requirement to reinstate the cross ventilation and provided sufficient build-up so that the existing finished floor levels could be achieved.”
The installation of the Gerflor products was undertaken by Ipswich-based Cadman Flooring who are one of the leading flooring contractors in East Anglia, priding themselves on exceptional high standards of work. They have one of the most experienced flooring teams with over 40 years of flooring experience.
On performance Kieran Cadman from Cadman Flooring said, “The Taraflex sports floorings are performing exceptionally well in both the main hall and dance studio at Colchester Academy. We also would have specified Taraflex®, if it had been our sole decision for this major refurbishment project.”
Dan Bowen, Area Sales & Specification Manager, Gerflor said, “Taraflex Performance was chosen for the main sports hall due the high level of sport that is played at Colchester Academy. The school wanted a floor that could be used for sports such as cricket and basketball that require good levels of ball bounce, which Taraflex achieves due to its unique construction. They also wanted ahigh quality sports floor that would protect the students from injury. Thanks to the high levels of impact resistance that Taraflex delivers, this requirement was easily met.”
Kieran Cadman concluded, “We find Gerflor’s flooring products so easy to install and the support from the specification and technical teams is first class. We have specified Gerflor floorings before and we will continue to do so moving forward.”
Ben Jeapes ended by saying, “The Taraflex® sports surfaces installed at Colchester Academy, are surpassing the level of expectation in both performance and appearance. I would definitely specify Gerflor again.”
Product overview of Taraflex Performance
Taraflex® sports flooring has been fitted at every Olympic Games since 1976. Approved by many National and International governing bodies as a world class sports surface, it is also widely installed within the education, community, leisure, health, and fitness sectors. Taraflex® is ideal for new build projects and refurbishments and is extremely durable and cost effective to maintain.
Over six million children everyday enjoy the benefits of Taraflex® sports flooring as it delivers a versatile range that can be used for various multi-specialist applications.
Taraflex® Performance is available in 17 all over colours and 3 wood-effect designs as standard, with an addition of 110 solid colour options available. It offers a P2 category shock absorbency of 35% to 45%. Taraflex® Evolution is also available in 20 designs as standard and it offers a P1 category shock absorbency of >25%. Both indoor sports surfaces are treated with the Triple Action Protecsol® surface treatment so that no polish is ever required for the lifetime of the floor.
Taraflex® Combi 85 is a C4 category sports flooring suitable for multiple sport and leisure activities. Its unique construction includes revolutionary CXP HD foam technology for the greater comfort and protection of players, advanced D-Max™ fibreglass grid reinforcement for superior indentation, abrasion and heavy loads’ resistance and triple action Protescol® surface treatment for easy, low-cost maintenance, friction protection and ‘intelligent’ slide coefficient.
Learn more about Gerflor solutions, ask for a free sample or contact us to speak to a specialist today by calling 01625 428 922, emailing contractuk@gerflor.com, or visiting gerflor.co.uk for the latest innovations.