The latest news and views from SAPCA
A number of elements need to be considered when choosing a surface for a facility
Put the right foot forward: Selecting a suitable sports surface
F
or years now people have looked to Sport England for guidance on selecting the right playing surface. Sport England is clear in stating that “the floor
is the most important part of any sports building and it must be considered at the outset”. There are a number of very good reasons for this: the obvious factor being the cost of sports surfaces. The properties of sports floors differ
massively in terms of price, material and design. It is important to recognise that each project is unique and should be looked at for its own precise specifications and needs.
BE USER-SPECIFIC If it’s a sport building, let sport drive the project. Establish the priorities of the sports to be played and the levels at
With so much choice for the surface of your sports installation, where do you begin? David Carter, sports specialist from Gerflor, talks us through the definitive dos and don’ts of selecting a non-timber sports surface which doesn’t just promote play, but enhances it through intelligent design
which they are to be played. Some sports will have definite needs and others will be more flexible. While most governing bodies will give you the perfect floor specification for the sport it is responsible for, the requirements from differing bodies will conflict in most cases, so compromises will have to be made. Think about the profile of users. Some
types of floor work fantastically well for 16-stone basketball players but are they as beneficial to an 11-year-old child
sportsmanagement.co.uk issue 4 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
running around half-heartedly? Each project is about context. The main headline figure test used is
the Force Reduction test carried out with apparatus called “the Berlin Athlete”. This is one form of measurement and uses criteria typical of an elite athlete, so some say it is not particularly representative of all that use sports facilities in that it is very specific, which is why we use the European Standard EN14904 for our parameters.
79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92