Torquay Boys Grammar school has a very proud history and can trace its roots back to 1904. Even in those days overcrowding was a problem and Torquay Secondary School, as it had become, was opened in April 1915 with 170 boys. Today, Torquay Boys Grammar School now has 1120 boys and girls in six houses with extensive building programmes taking place in the last 30 years to keep their facilities up to date.
The school now stands as one of the top 20 boys’ schools in the country and is forever moving forward in the drive to providing an education, both academic and cultural, to rival that found anywhere in the country. At Torquay Boys Grammar School, they also believe that it’s important that students can choose from, and experience a wide range of physical activities, which caters for all abilities.
When the school urgently needed to replace their existing wooden floor in their main hall due to flooding, they turned to international flooring specialist Gerflor to supply over 600m2 of their world-renowned Taraflex® Performance vinyl sports flooring.
The main hall at Torquay Boys Grammar School is used for a mixture of sports activities including health and fitness, racket sports, team sports and gymnastics, so a sports floor that could deliver performance, safety and durability would be paramount in the final choice of the replacement flooring.
Achieving a first-class installation that would be on budget, on time and as importantly, meet the stringent requirements that the school would insist on was a challenge well-met by Plymouth- based Roberts Flooring.
Dave Moran, Managing Director, Roberts Flooring commented, “the school had previously had an unfortunate flooding incident which caused their current timber sprung sports floor to swell and become defective.” On the new specification Dave Moran stated, “We approached Gerflor to help propose a suitable solution and it was decided that their Taraflex Performance 9mm thick sports flooring system would be the best answer due to its versatile range of applications as it was suitable for a sporting and educational environment. We settled on Mint Green as the optimum colour as it would really compliment the sports line markings that were added to the new floor. “
Gerflor have more than 70 years of experience with their Taraflex® sports flooring. It offers a wide range of colours and is suitable for a variety of applications. Taraflex® sports floors have been made since 1947 and used by the largest international sports federations (volleyball, handball, badminton, table tennis) for decades. Through partnerships with these federations, Gerflor has been present at the Summer Olympic Games since 1976. It’s an Olympic pedigree stretching back over an incredible 43 years.
Taraflex® is available in 17 colours and three wood-effect designs. The Taraflex® Performance product specified for Torquay Boys Grammar School offers a P2 category shock absorbency 35% to 45%. Taraflex® is recognised for providing durability, safety and comfort without impairing performance.
The range also offers greater than 45% force reduction, making it unrivalled in the marketplace in terms of offering comfort for users. Taraflex® meets the EN Standard of 22196 for anti- bacterial activity (E. coli – S. aureus – MRSA) (3) returning >99% levels of growth inhibition.
Peter Richardson, Site Manager, Torquay Boys Grammar School commented, “we are very pleased with the Gerflor flooring. It was a good choice and has really lived -up to its specification.” Dave Moran added, “the project had to be done to a very firm timescale to ensure the hall could be reopened to the school and other members of the public who rent the sports hall for several activities including badminton, five a side football and basketball.”
Taraflex® Performance is also treated with Protecsol®, which renders polish redundant and is triple action meaning no polish is ever required, it contributes to easy maintenance and is anti-friction burn and slide/grip. Taraflex® has a double density foam backing and as another bonus, it’s environmentally friendly. Taraflex® Performance from Gerflor meets the EN 14904 Standard for indoor sports surfaces. It’s also an ideal solution for renovation works as it’s available with the Dry-Tex™ System perfect for new construction or refurbishment projects with damp subfloors.
Dave Moran concluded, “we have carried out projects using Gerflor sports flooring in several schools and leisure centres. Gerflor always provide high quality flooring products and have a very large and varied library of flooring solutions.”
Peter Richardson ended by saying, “the Taraflex flooring is performing really well and both students and staff really like it. In my opinion, it’s performing much better than the previous wooden floor that we had. “
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.