Reading and the loaning of books from libraries in Scotland has been in some decline. However, the Scottish Government places great importance on public libraries and believes everyone should have access to library services. In 2016 the Scottish Government allocated £450,000 to support Scottish libraries.

Nicola Sturgeon, The First Minister recently launched her Reading Challenge which encourages children to read more across all of Scotland. By providing this financial ‘page-turner’ it seems the usage of libraries is happily on the increase.

Denny library lies on the cusp of the ancient Scottish town of Falkirk. It’s a haven for all things literary. It’s a vital spoke in the daily wheel of the town’s activities and would see a benefit from a recent regeneration project. The building works would be handled by Clark Contracts Ltd who were the main contractor constructing ten retail units and the new Denny library. The final flooring installation would fall to local firm RJM Flooring.

RJM Flooring carry out commercial soft flooring throughout Scotland and the north of England and have carried out projects in Ireland and Amsterdam. Glasgow-based RJM Flooring are now one of the more established flooring contractors in Scotland, supplying high levels of quality installations. In providing a quality finish for the Denny Library RJM Flooring would need a manufacturer to provide a superior class of flooring products. The project would be a perfect fit for international flooring and interiors specialist Gerflor.

David Brady, Contracts Director, RJM Flooring commented, “most of our works were carried out in the new main library by using Gerflor Creation 70 LVT, together with Gerflor Tarasafe Standard for all the back of house WC areas and stores”. David Brady went on to further say, “The Junior Library was one room that had to have an increased level of design elements to make it work visually. Gerflor Taralay Impression Comfort proved to be the perfect choice, as it created the look of a pond surrounded by sand and rock features”.

With over 70 years’ experience Gerflor offer designers a superb range of stunningly beautiful luxury vinyl tile (LVT) solutions with their Creation collection. This amazing range won the 2017 CFJ/CFA Product of the year and their Creation 70 product scooped the coveted Red Dot Design award last year, which is akin to receiving a ‘Design Oscar’. With a collection of vibrant modern designs Creation 70 is a designer’s dream, providing a tough and durable solution and is available in 58 spectacular designs. Equally stunning in looks is Gerflor’s Creation 55 which is a perfect match for moderate traffic areas. This striking trio of LVT flooring products also includes their Creation 30 which is a new design-orientated luxury vinyl tile for the residential markets. The sophisticated Creation 70 range offers a brand-new palette of realistic wood and mineral finishes in tile and plank formats with beveled edges. In addition to this, the looselay Clic System’s unique vertical interlocking format allows this product to be laid quickly over most existing surfaces, with no need to close premises during refurbishments saving customers time and money. The Creation 70 LVT range is a popular choice for contract applications delivering a wide stunning selection of remarkable traditional, contemporary, modern wood and mineral designs. The Creation range is manufactured using the embossing process to achieve a realistic and natural look which is ideal for a host of inspirational and hardworking places. The Creation 70 range is also 100% recyclable, REACH compliant and is treated with PUR+ surface treatment, providing excellent cleaning characteristics and improved resistance to scratching. With the Creation LVT range from Gerflor the design possibilities are endless.

William Marshall, Senior Design Officer (Architect), Falkirk Council said, “Gerflor offer a wide variety of great quality solutions. I was looking for robustness, continuity and visual appearance in the flooring.” He went on to further add, “I have used Gerflor products before and Gerflor themselves are extremely easy and professional to deal with. I would certainly specify them again for future projects”.

David Brady further added, “With the size of our company we feel that we can give our clients a close personnel service; from tendering, procuring the contracts, on-site works, through to completion and handover”.

Gerflor’s Taralay Impression Comfort range which featured so heavily in the Denny Junior Library was a huge success due to its ability to deliver bespoke designs that can really make a room or themed environment come alive. The new 2017 collection displays a wide palette of 21 designs and colours. It’s an amazing array of choices conducive to creating tailor-made spaces; from classical to contemporary and bright, or welcoming and warm. The Taralay Impression Comfort range from Gerflor is a multi-layered vinyl floor covering reinforced with glass fibre and a printed design that is protected by a transparent wearlayer of either 0.70 mm or 0.90 mm. It offers a 19dB sound insulation and an indentation resistance of 0.08 mm. The flooring is equipped with the brand new Protecsol® 2, patented surface treatment from Gerflor obtained by UV laser cross-linking, offering the best chemical resistance to the main products used in healthcare environments including; betadine, eosin, hydro alcoholic solutions. This treatment avoids applying any acrylic emulsion throughout the lifetime of the product saving on cleaning time and money as it reduces water and detergent consumption.

The Tarasafe vinyl safety flooring range is available in over 80 finishes and is reinforced with a glass fibre grid, suitable for use in all areas of heavy traffic where slip-resistance, durability and hygienic conditions are required. Using mineral crystal particles, rather than the industry standard carborundum, Tarasafe, with its improved performance, is easier to install, lighter and more flexible to handle. The range has a maximum hygiene rating meeting the EN Standard 22196 for anti- bacterial activity (E. coli – S. aureus – MRSA) (3) returning >99% levels of growth inhibition and comes with a 12-year warranty. Tarasafe is stain and chemical resistant and comes with the unique SparClean® surface treatment thus no polish for life. Tarasafe is a hugely popular choice for a host of environments; education, healthcare, leisure, hospitality, housing and in any applications, that require slip resistance to be maintained.

David Brady finally said, “We are constantly using Gerflor products on many of our sites and would be very happy to keep installing them as they are easy to work with and the finished look is fantastic.”

Learn more about Gerflor solutions, ask for a free sample or contact us to speak to a specialist today by calling 01926 622 600, emailing contractuk@gerflor.com, or visiting gerflor.co.uk for the latest innovations.