The completion of a multi-million pound new leisure centre ‘kitted-out’ with no less than five high performance Gerflor flooring products, has boosted the leisure offering available to a rural community in the north of the Isle of Axholme, North Lincolnshire. The facility, where transport is limited and the nearest leisure centre had previously been over five miles away has provided local residents a new lease of life.
Previously the only leisure provision for residents was an old school hall without a swimming pool, North Lincolnshire Council wanted to help increase the local numbers participating in sport and active recreation by putting in place the right infrastructure. Built on the land of the local secondary school, the resulting new Axholme North Leisure Centre is a part refurbishment of an old hall combined with a new-build facility that has created a purpose-built, well-equipped leisure complex.
Located on Wharf Road, Crowle, the indoor facilities provided by Axholme North Leisure Centre include a four lane, 25 metre swimming pool, 16 station gym and a fitness studio, whilst outside there is a 3G 9v9 football pitch along with netball and tennis courts.
“Serving our small rural community, the new leisure centre has been well received by those who are taking advantage of the facility and who like its welcoming and friendly ambience”, said Faye Colver, Area Sports Facilities Manager. “However, the choice of floorcoverings was not only important to the appearance of our leisure centre but also to its upkeep and the safety and comfort of its users.”
Since first impressions count, design-led flooring solutions for the customer-facing areas was decided upon, and, as a result, Gerflor’s Taralay Impression Control fitted the brief by combining the specification qualities of performance and slip resistance along with aesthetics. Installed within the reception, corridors and cafeteria areas, it also unified and enhanced the décor of these hard working, communal spaces.
Taralay Impression Control is a decorative and reliable, HSE 36+ PTV, ≥ 20 μm surface roughness and R11 slip resistant, multi-purpose vinyl flooring with a group T rating for heavy traffic environments. Its patented and revolutionary Protecsol® Control hygienic, surface treatment permits easy maintenance without polishing for the lifetime of the product.
“Taralay Impression Control in ‘Silk’ is a nice, light, flooring well suited to a building with a large footfall, and which, unlike concrete and some hard surfaces, is quiet and warm underfoot. Plus, our chosen design, ‘Silk’, is appealing yet unobtrusive, doesn’t show footprints and is well suited to a mixed ability community, which includes people with conditions who may be adversely affected by certain colours and shapes within the floor,” said Faye Colver.
“However, it was Taralay Impression Control’s easy maintenance that particularly impressed us. As people continually move from outdoor spaces to indoor areas, it is vital that dirt does not become embedded in the flooring or travel within the building, potentially contaminating wet areas. A flooring that was quick and easy to clean was therefore crucial to us.”
A simple to maintain surface was also an important characteristic for the multi-function fitness studio flooring enabling it to be quickly cleaned. Meeting this brief with ease was Gerflor’s Taraflex® Comfort in wood-effect design ‘Oak’: “Being a multi-use space, we needed a hardwearing surface but not a clinical feel or look.
We also needed the flooring to have dual functionality providing not only durability for activities like kettlebell but also warmth and comfort for floor-based exercise like yoga,” explained Faye Colver. “Taraflex Comfort gives us the warmth in look, feel and ambience we wanted with the durability and easy maintenance we needed.”
Taraflex® Comfort is a P3 category, multi-sport vinyl flooring offering over 45% shock absorption to deliver optimum performance, safety and comfort. It’s Impact Protection Index is 82% making it unrivalled in the marketplace and ideal for all levels of sport and all levels of users. Taraflex® Comfort is available in 17 colours and three wood-effect designs as standard, with a further 110 solid colours available with a minimum order quantity of 500sqm. Its advanced, multi-layer construction includes D-Max™ reinforcement for durability, CXP HD™ foam for comfort and safety and Triple Action, Protecsol® surface treatment for ultimate grip and slide compromise, less risk of friction burns and lower maintenance.
The project’s flooring contractor, Paynters Contract Flooring, installed all five Gerflor products including approximately 200 sqm of Taralay Impression Control and 90 sqm of Taraflex® Comfort. They also installed 330sqm of Gerflor’s Tarasafe Ultra H2O in colour ‘Stone’ in the barefoot showers, changing rooms and locker areas and 168 sqm of Tarasafe Ultra in colour ‘Pebble’, within the shod/dry foot areas, including WCs, changing rooms and circulation spaces.
Gerflor’s Tarasafe collection of vinyl safety floorings has been developed for heavy traffic areas where slip-resistance, durability and hygiene are required. Light in weight, reinforced with glass fibre grid(s) and inlaid with mineral crystal particles for a long-lasting, bright decorative design, these floorings carry an environmental A+ (BRE) rating. In addition, Tarasafe Ultra benefits from Gerflor’s unique SparClean® highly stain resistant, surface treatment. Whilst, Tarasafe Ultra H2O, for both wet and dry, barefoot and shod applications, offers enhanced comfort and slip-resistance in high risk areas.
Paynters Contract Flooring also fitted Gerflor’s Mipolam Cosmo homogenous flooring in colour ‘Silver’ in the fitness studio and cleaners’ store rooms. Scuff resistant, Mipolam Cosmo has a P Group high abrasion resistance rating and also features Gerflor’s exclusive Evercare® surface treatment coupled with anti-bacterial and fungicide treatments for high stain resistance, easy maintenance and added hygiene.
David Loud of Paynters Contract Flooring said: “Gerflor products were pre-specified to the client’s requirements at tender stage, which we won through the main contractor Harry Fairclough Construction Ltd. Gerflor is one of the main suppliers of these types of floorings and we find their products particularly flexible and good to work with.”
“We therefore use their products often and especially their sports floorings, which we can order in measured lengths to avoid wastage and eliminate unnecessary cross joins. This job went well and it was completed on budget to the main contractor and client’s programme of requirements without issues.”
“We are very happy with the results,” concluded Faye Colver: “The flooring specifications were based on durability, performance and lifespan. Gerflor’s floorings are continuing to do their job as our new Leisure Centre is steadily growing in capacity as more members of our community take part in the leisure activities we can now offer.”
For more information about Gerflor solutions, order a free sample or to speak to a specialist call 01926 622600 / email: contractuk@gerflor.com or visit www.gerflor.co.uk