LIFE’S A BEACH
Forbo Flooring Systems’ Marmoleum collection has helped to create a fun seaside theme for children at a Devon hospital.
Thanks to its bacteriostatic properties, combined with its natural texture and appearance, Forbo Flooring Systems’ Marmoleum collection has helped to turn the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital’s playful beach theme dream into reality for its paediatric entrance and waiting area. The vibrant and exciting design of this project led it to be commended in the Fly Forbo 2019/20 competition.
After raising funds to refurbish its paediatric entrance and waiting area, for younger children, the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust consulted with its patients and parents to gather their aspirations and provide inspiration for the look and feel of the space. The consensus was the children wanted a theme that reflected a place where happy family memories are made; the Devon coastline. Following this consultation, the Trust enlisted the help of Studio Hanson and Navada Construction to bring the idea to life.
Kay Hanson, Interior Designer at Studio Hanson, said: “When children visit a hospital for appointments or treatment, it can be a daunting experience for them – especially for the younger children. When I was approached by the Trust we initially discussed creating an interactive beach themed space, which would provide patients with a positive and playful experience; I couldn’t wait to begin the project. Designing to enhance the lives of the user is a strong passion of mine, and it was a great privilege to be part of this project.
“The space is a real paradise. Throughout the waiting area, we had bespoke large-scale graphics applied to the walls by NB&Co; featuring playful animals and children enjoying the sandy beaches and blue skies. Children can enjoy bespoke joinery palm trees, flying birds overhead and parasols to relax under, feature sky scene lights above and at the heart of the space we designed three bespoke brightly coloured beach huts. Each beach hut contains a different activity for children to enjoy during their wait; an interactive games table, a library and a play kitchen was designed to encourage imaginative play. For the parents we also designed benches to mimic the look of hammocks, so that they could hopefully lose themselves for a moment within the space too.
“When selecting the floorcovering, we wanted something that had a more natural and subtle aesthetic to replicate the movement of sand and sea, while also complementing the really vibrant space overall. We therefore chose to use Forbo’s Marmoleum collection. I have specified this range across many healthcare projects before, I knew it was the perfect choice – not only from a design point of view, but also because of its natural bacteriostatic properties and sustainable credentials. For the sand, we specified Marmoleum Cocoa in the white chocolate colourway, as the various tones running throughout the surface provided a really authentic sand-like finish.”
Forbo’s Marmoleum range is manufactured from 94-98% natural raw materials (including linseed oil, rosin, wood flour,
38 | SAFETY FLOORING & HEALTHCARE
jute and limestone), making it one of the most sustainable floorcoverings available on the market. However, the Marmoleum Cocoa range goes one step further, as it has an additional seventh natural ingredient: upcycled cocoa shells from a Dutch chocolate producer. The inclusion of the cocoa shells adds a rich granular look that is fresh and contemporary.
Kay continued: “Across the sand-like floor, we wanted waves to lap over from the sea. This was easy to achieve thanks to Forbo’s laser cutting technology. Forbo cut wave like shapes from three shades of blue found within the Marmoleum Marbled Real, Splash and Fresco ranges – all of which feature a marble effect that helped to replicate the movement of the sea. Once the bespoke shapes were cut, the flooring contractor installed the sheets diagonally across the entire room to create a focal point.”
The Marmoleum Marbled range is inspired by Mother Nature’s colour palette and consists of five organic structures: Fresco, Real, Vivace, Terra and Splash. It has been designed to help create inspirational interiors to re-connect end users with nature, naturally, which made it the perfect solution for this project.
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