The Nantgarw student Campus is part of Coleg y Cymoedd (College of the Valleys) in Wales. When the Nantgarw campus required a fast refurbishment of their Library, they turned to international flooring specialist Gerflor to supply Gradus Carpets for the much-used library. This successful renovation, then resulted in the specification of a vast selection of other Gerflor products for other areas of the campus. Some of which included their Olympic pedigree Taraflex sports flooring for the main sports hall, Tarasafe Safety Vinyl Flooring for changing rooms and corridors, Powershock Tiles for the gym and Gradus Barrier Matting for the reception and entrance areas.
Coleg y Cymoedd was formed in 2013, following the merger of The College Ystrad Mynach and Coleg Morgannwg. Over 10,000 learners’ study at Coleg y Cymoedd each year. The college offers a wide range of Full and Part Time courses from Entry to Degree Level in over 15 Curriculum areas. The college has invested significantly in its facilities in recent years, with standout projects including the Nantgarw Campus building (a £40 million award winning campus).
Commenting on the project Tony Thorne, Specification Manager, Gerflor, South Wales said, “Carpet Services are a well-known flooring contractor in Wales. who I visit regularly to review and discuss projects with as well as new pipeline opportunities.” Tony Thorne added, “I went to see Carpet Services and was in the right place at the right time with the discussion focusing on the library refurbishment of the Nantgarw student Campus. The client wanted to replace the flooring in the library, and required a floorcovering that would match their black and green colour scheme. The recommendation was to use Streetwise Design with Emphasis, and Stratus as a flooring solution which the client was delighted with.”
Tony Thorne also said, “Whilst the initial requirement was for approximately 300m2 flooring for the library, the end user was so pleased with the final result they chose to work with Gerflor and Carpet Services for other areas of the refurbishment programme across the entire campus.”
The Nantgarw student Campus project provided Gerflor with the perfect platform to showcase a raft of other high-quality flooring solutions ideal for the demands of the modern-day education environment. The project would amount to an immense 5300m2 of Gerflor products being specified for not only the library, but also the communal areas, changing rooms and their sports hall.
The design and specification of the Nantgarw Sports Centre of Excellence would fall to Cardiff-based architects Austin-Smith: Lord, who provide award-winning Architectural, Interior Design and Landscape Design services across multiple sectors across the UK. They have a growing portfolio of refurbishment work in the education sector, spearheaded by their growing specialist team of Interior Designers.
Jonanthan Jones, Associate at Austin- Smith: Lord commented, “We have a long-standing and successful relationship with the College, having previously designed a new campus for them in Aberdare and also helped them to re-purpose and improve much of their existing campus in Ystrad Mynach. The College were keen to explore what was possible on a prominent parcel of land to the south of the existing Nantgarw campus, with a view to creating a high quality, flagship sports facility, and engaged us and Mott MacDonald Project Management to complete a feasibility study. The study was greatly assisted by our UK-wide experience in the Further Education and Sports sectors, not least the recently completed Forge project for Coleg Sir Gar.”
On specification Jonathan Jones said, “We originally specified Gerflor for the sports hall flooring, given their proven quality and range of products to suit a variety of requirements when it comes to sports vinyl, and we have delivered several other successful projects, where we have specified Gerflor’s Taraflex indoor sports surface. The black sports flooring was selected as it complimented the overall concept, providing a striking feature in the main sports space and appeared in our very earliest Twin motion visualisations and flythroughs, which captured the enthusiasm of the client and stakeholders. With the internal colour scheme based around the college’s colours of greens, teals, greys, and blacks, we saw an opportunity to combine that and reflect the external black cladding in the sports hall floor, creating a bold contrast with the teal walls, and coloured sports line markings.”
The installation of such prestigious and large flooring project would be the responsibility of Carpet Services Flooring, Cardiff. The company is a leader in contract commercial flooring and domestic flooring, and it is a family run business, which prides itself on its delivering exceptionally high standards of service, quality products and affordable prices.
For the Sports Centre of Excellence (which is a new build), Carpet Services installed 720m2 of Taraflex Performance in ‘Black’, 90m2 of Powershock 300 Gym Tile and 400m2 of Tarasafe Ultra ‘Opal’ in corridors and changing rooms. The installation would also supply flooring for the main college building refurbishment which would include Gradus Stratus ‘Jetstream’ on multiple floors and corridors, together with classrooms, library, and office with pockets of Gradus Streetwise in ‘Green,’ ‘Orange’ and ‘Blue’ along with Gradus Emphasis Loop in the same Green, Orange and Blue on separate floors. To date the project has used approximately 4000m2 of Gradus Stratus and 300m2 of Gradus Streetwise. Other areas of the college that would benefit from Gerflor and Gradus products would be the wood-working area where 100m2 of Gerflor’s’ Tarasafe Ultra safety flooring in ‘Granite’ would be used, together with 100m2 of Gradus Boulevard Stripe matting in 1Raven1 and 100m2 of Boulevard 6000 in ‘Nightfall’.
Commenting on specification and products Ray Gallivan, Contract Manager at Carpet Services said, “We have already had ongoing work from the college and have ourselves specified and installed Gerflor for many years. They are extremely helpful and provide an excellent product portfolio of flooring products.” On the actual installation itself, Ray Gallivan further added, “We had two fitters which makes up one team which is then bolstered with extra teams as required. The installation began at the end of May which meant that we would be ready and completed for the new term which was on the 2nd of September. All the Gerflor and Gradus flooring products that we used were extremely easy to lay as they are fantastic products to work with.”
Tony Thorne concluded by saying, “This project is so prestigious that we have entered it into the ‘Refurbishment of the Year’ award at Education Estates Magazine.
Very simply, this award recognises either a school, college or university refurbishment project that has made a difference to the educational or research experience. In our opinion the Nantgarw student Campus project delivers on all the criteria that the judges will be looking for which includes the overall quality of design and manufacturing, which is extremely high, as is the client engagement and their satisfaction with the service and solution they received.”
In conclusion Ray Gallivan said, “The Gerflor flooring products that were specified for this iconic project are really meeting the high standards required for the end user. We would continue to use Gerflor on a weekly basis. The final result at the college is extremely impressive.”
On client expectations, Jonathan Jones ended by saying, “The Gerflor flooring products specified are absolutely meeting the high specifications set for the education project and client’s brief. The main circulation spaces were actually a last-minute alteration to the Gerflor products, and so to achieve the performance and appearance requirements with their alternatives in such a short space of time was absolutely vital to us. Again, the monochromatic palette is accentuated by the subtle concrete effect, providing a high-quality finish to all vinyl spaces. We would definitely specify Gerflor again. The sports hall especially looks fantastic with the diffuse light and silhouettes reflected off the black vinyl, so we are incredibly delighted with the final finish. “
Gerflor products overview specified for Coleg Y Cymoedd Nantgarw
Gerflor is a manufacturer of comprehensive contract interior flooring solutions, including vinyl, linoleum, carpets, and rubber. Gerflor innovations help to create attractive and functional environments, as well as enhance and protect education interiors. Gerflor solutions are proven to enhance the longevity of a building whilst reducing long term maintenance costs. Gerflor works in partnership with the education sector to ensure buildings are safe and accessible for all users.
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Gerflor Vinyl Sports Flooring
Taraflex Performance
Taraflex® Performance is available in 17 all over colours and 4 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 has a Triple Action Protecsol® surface treatment so that no polish is ever required for the lifetime of the floor and makes it easy to clean and maintain. Taraflex® Performance offers maximum hygiene with bacteriostatic and a fungistatic treatment and comes with the Triple Action Protecsol® surface treatment which provides easy maintenance, friction protection and ‘intelligent’ sliding coefficient. The surface reinforcement which delivers durability and abrasion resistance is provided by a unique D-Max fibreglass grid.
Taraflex® sports floorings are available with a complete range of shock absorption P1/P2/P3 ratings, so that the right solution can be specified every time, whether it is for exercise or play or both and for all ages and ability. The family of Taraflex® sports floorings are sustainable solutions thanks to their unique product construction.
Taraflex® sports flooring has been fitted at every Olympic Games since 1976. Approved by many National and International governing bodies as a world class indoor 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, which can be used for various multi-specialist sports and leisure applications.
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Gerflor Carpet Collections
Gradus Carpets inc. Stratus, Streetwise Design, Emphasis
Gradus Stratus is suitable for heavy commercial environments and provides the ideal solution for commercial office and education environments. It has an Impact Noise Rating of 23dB which means the physical impact of footsteps, furniture moving, and objects being dropped, is reduced by 23dB. Stratus comes with a 12-year wear warranty meaning the carpet is more durable and requires less repair or replacement during the building’s lifecycle. This therefore reduces the operational carbon impact of a building.
Gradus Stratus also scores highly on the environment front as it contains 78% total recycled content, and its yarn is 100% ECONYL regenerated Solution Dyed Nylon yarn which is produced using nylon waste that is recovered from oceans and landfill. The nylon waste goes through a regenerated and purification process and recycled back into its original purity and then used to manufacture Stratus carpet tiles. The Bitumen backing of Stratus also contains 75% recycled material.
Gradus Streetwise Design from Gradus is an attractive textured loop pile carpet tile which is designed to be installed randomly. Available in a range of complementary colours. Streetwise Design comprises Originals and Brights and can be combined with Stratus Jet Stream and the Emphasis carpet tile range to create interesting and contemporary floor schemes. Streetwise Design is suitable for a wide range of environments including commercial offices and education.
Gradus Emphasis collection features a selection of bright accent colours which is available in a loop pile carpet tile. Made from ECONYL® regenerated solution dyed nylon, Emphasis is suitable for use as an accent colour in a wide range of environments including commercial, hospitality, retail, healthcare, and education.
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Gerflor Rubber Tiles
Powershock 300 from Gerflor is a high impact rubber flooring solution that is designed to be both functional and hardwearing. The range is more durable and easier to clean and maintain than standard rubber flooring and provides up to 5 times more resistance to indentation. Powershock 300 is a 30mm thick high impact rubber flooring tile ideal for free weight and heavy weight areas in any gym or fitness facility. Their pre-installed connector pins make for easy installation. Powershock 300 avoids deep-impact damage while providing outstanding sound deadening.
The tiles are made from vulcanised rubber to increase their strength and durability, the non-porous wearlayer is impermeable and odourless. Powershock 300 also delivers fantastic shock absorption qualities and sound installation of 26dB, whilst also providing important protection for the existing subfloor. Powershock 300 is the ideal solution for an array of fitness which include hard-working gyms and leisure spaces where performance and durability are key requirements.
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Gerflor Vinyl Safety Flooring
Tarasafe Ultra
Tarasafe is a range of slip resistant sheet flooring that meets HSE guidelines. It is constructed from vinyl with deeply inlaid mineral crystal particles (patent pending) and coloured chips for a decorative design. Contains no Carborundum. Tarasafe is reinforced with a glass fibre grid and is suitable for use in all areas of heavy traffic where slip-resistance, durability and hygienic conditions are required.
This safety flooring benefits from Sparclean® surface treatment for extreme resistance to soiling and staining. It is also treated with an anti-bacterial and fungicidal treatment. This particular product comes with a 12-year warranty and is 100% recyclable, when the product is at the end of its’ life.
Benefits of Tarasafe SparClean® Treated Vinyl Safety Flooring
1. Easy to clean and maintain compacted nonporous surface.
2. Enhanced colour, design, and brightness of mineral crystal particles
3. Stain and chemical resistant SparClean® surface treatment, no polish for life!
4. Maximum hygiene with bacteriostatic and fungistatic treatment
Gradus products overview specified for Coleg Y Cymoedd Nantgarw
Gradus is a manufacturer of comprehensive contract interior solutions, including stair edgings, floor trims, barrier matting, lighting, and wall protection. Gradus innovations help to create attractive and functional environments, as well as enhance and protect education interiors. Gradus solutions are proven to enhance the longevity of a building whilst reducing long term maintenance costs. Gradus works in partnership with the education sector to ensure buildings are safe and accessible for all users.
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Gradus Accessories Secondary Barrier Matting Boulevard
Boulevard 6000 is a tufted cut pile, high performance barrier matting manufactured from ECONYL® regenerated solution dyed nylon. It features a patterned designed to disguise the effects of soiling and incorporates a heavy scraper for optimum dirt removal and moisture retention. It is easy to maintain and resistant to bleach solutions. Boulevard 6000 is suitable for use in most contract environments including retail, education, healthcare, and commercial office and is ideal for use in heavily trafficked circulation areas e.g. foyers & receptions, lift lobbies, staircases, corridors and walkways, vending & canteen areas, and service points.
Available in two easy to install formats – 2m sheets with impervious pvc backing and 500mm x 500mm tile with bitumen backing – Boulevard 6000 is BSEN13501 Cfl-s1 fire rated and has also been tested for colour fastness and to BSEN1307 for wear resistance. Boulevard 6000 has a 10 -year wear warranty (subject to terms and conditions). It can also be used in conjunction with Esplanade 6000 primary barrier matting and Access 6000 and Mat-in-a-Box 6000 hybrid barrier matting to provide a cost-effective, coordinated system at entrances and access points.
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 flooring innovations.
Learn more about Gradus solutions, ask for a free sample or contact us to speak to a specialist today by calling 01625 428 922, emailing imail@gradus.com, or visiting gradus.com for the latest barrier matting, wall protection, lighting, and flooring accessory innovations.