When Collegiate School in Bristol wanted to refurbish their main sports hall, together with revamping the stairs, showers and changing rooms they would specify a mix of high-quality flooring from international flooring specialist Gerflor. The specification would include Gerflor’s Olympic pedigree Taraflex® Performance vinyl sports flooring and their world-class Tarasafe Ultra and Tarasafe Ultra H20 safety flooring.
Collegiate has an impressive sporting legacy, unsurprising given their outstanding on-site sports facilities that are truly unique to Bristol. Their strong sporting tradition is at the heart of everyday school life, encouraging everyone regardless of age and sporting ability to get more involved in physical education. It is a strongly held belief that exercise, and playing sports is important to maintain a healthy mind and it also allows each pupil to develop self-esteem and a strong team spirit. Their main sports hall has a multi-purpose goal and can be set up to provide badminton courts, cricket nets, a netball court, volleyball courts, a basketball court or five a side football pitch. In addition to this, the entire hall can be used for martial arts, dance classes or other similar classes.
Choosing the highest quality indoor sports replacement floor would be paramount to the ongoing success of their main sports hall facility. The changing rooms and showering areas in many educational locations can often be wet and slippery environments and this is where the Tarasafe Ultra and Tarasafe Ultra H20 safety collections were the ideal solutions for Collegiate School.
The Tarasafe products would also provide the perfect choice for the school’s stairs offering pupils, staff and visitors the required safety and comfort needed at the education establishment. Commenting on the instigation of the project Simon Crossman, Director of Facilities, Collegiate said, “The sports hall was nearly forty years old and the cost to build a new hall was too expensive, therefore a full refurbishment was chosen.” Simon Crossman went on to add, “Originally the refurb was to concentrate on the lights, ventilation and heating and hot water and replace the floor. On M&E refurb projects, it can be hard to see where the money has been spent, consequently the floor was to be a key visual sign for the parents that we had refurbished the hall.”
On specification Simon Crossman went on to further comment, “We wanted a bright multi-sport surface and a surface which could cope with ad-hoc school activities such as assemblies, prizegivings and summer/leavers balls. Therefore, the floor had to be resilient, take the point loading of a high heel or a chair and not dent or deform in any way which could affect the playing surface. Another requirement was to have an indoor cricket area which didn’t involve laying additional mats. The Taraflex® indoor sports solution delivers this specification in spades.”
Chris Pursey, Gerflor Area Sales Manager, Southwest & Channel Islands commented, “The collection of Gerflor ranges used on this project were specified by Quattro Design Architects, who chose Taraflex® in colour Lagoon for the main playing area with a run-off border in Gold which looks very striking. The specifier only wanted the best-in-class solution for the facility, and it needed to meet the various requirements for the end user”.
The installation of the Gerflor products would have to be of the highest standard to meet the rigorous specification requirements and would be the responsibility of Bristol-based Knighton Contracts. Knighton Contracts are specialist in commercial flooring providing solutions to many of the UK’s leading construction contractors, providing a reliable, trustworthy, and efficient flooring service for a host of projects for over forty years. Lee Knighton, Director commented, “The project initially came to us from the contractors KP Wilton with the specification coming from Quattro Design.”
On installation, Lee Knighton said, “We had absolutely no problems laying down the Gerflor Taraflex® and Tarasafe products and everybody seemed extremely delighted with the final finish of the new flooring installed.” Commenting on the performance of the new flooring Simon Crossman also added, “The floor has now been down for over a year and is the significant wow factor in this critical refurbishment. The parents and visitors all comment on how remarkable it looks. We have also had great support in understanding how to remove cricket ball marks from the floor. Chris Pursey, from Gerflor, has been really helpful in providing technical support and sourcing the correct cleaning products to help maintain the high quality appearance of the floor.”
Lee Knighton finally said, “We would definitely choose to specify and install Gerflor products again. The new Gerflor sports surface and safety flooring looks really superb. We also found that Gerflor provided high quality assistance right throughout the project. From enquiry through to delivery, their Area Specification Manager ‘Chris Pursey’ provided outstanding levels of customer service and technical and specification advice.”
On final outcomes Chris Pursey added, “The client is incredibly happy with the final finish and performance of their new Taraflex® sports floor, particularly as the hall is used regularly for indoor cricket. It’s been a rewarding project to be involved in, as we were able to supply the total flooring solutions they were seeking.”
In conclusion Simon Crossman said, “The whole project has been a fantastic success with the floor being the most visual part. Eye catching and dramatic has been the final result.” Taraflex® indoor sports surfaces overview Taraflex® Performance easily meets the rigorous demands of vast array of sports activities providing excellent co-efficient of friction, this means twists, turns, stops/starts can be carried out without fear of slipping or gripping and subsequent injuries. The shock absorption qualities of Taraflex® Performance also helps players gain even more enjoyment from sport.
With a complete range of shock absorption P1/P2/P3, Taraflex® sports floorings from Gerflor provide the right solution every time and optimal safety for users. The combination of D-Max™/D-Max™+, CXP™HD foam ensures that Taraflex® sports floorings are durable and high-performing. Taraflex® also meets the EN 14904 Standard which is the minimum performance requirements to be met by indoor sports floors.
Its objective is to draw attention to the necessity of installing safe, comfortable floors that reduce the risk of injuries. Taraflex® technology delivers long-lasting high-performance of the products for the lifetime of the floors…a massive boon when long-term planning and budgeting are perceived as being two key considerations for specifiers.
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 6 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 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% and is also treated with the Triple Action Protecsol® surface treatment so that no polish is ever required for the lifetime of the floor.
Tarasafe safety flooring overview Intended for traditional barefoot spaces where there are continuous wet areas, Tarasafe Ultra H20 also offers a shod solution, providing a perfect blend of flooring applications for those areas where wet flooring conditions can be an issue. Within Gerflor’s other top performing Tarasafe vinyl safety flooring range there are over 80 finishes available to choose from.
They are reinforced with a glass fibre grid and are suitable for use in all areas of heavy traffic where slip-resistance, durability and hygienic conditions are required. Using mineral crystal particles, rather than 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 and is also 100% recyclable.
The Tarasafe Standard range comes with the unique UV cured PUR surface treatment and their Tarasafe Ultra range (excluding their Tarasafe Ultra H20 offer) also sees a benefit from the SparClean® surface treatment, therefore no polish for life.
Learn more about Gerflor solutions, ask for a free sample or contact us to speak to a specialist today by calling 03332 412901, emailing contractuk@gerflor.com, or visiting gerflor.co.uk for the latest innovations.