EDUCATIONAL VENUES HIGH ACHIEVERS
Today’s busy schools, colleges and universities have challenging design requirements to ensure inspirational classrooms, sport halls, food preparation areas, bustling corridors and stairwells all make the grade. Here, Ian Jones, Marketing Manager of Flowcrete UK, gives an insight into some of the main aspects to consider.
SPORTS AREAS Sports areas can present a challenge in specification, with many facilities having to accommodate a number of different games and sports. In changing rooms, showers and toilet areas all benefit from floor finishes that offer slip resistance and hygiene performance as standard. Where a floor screed is being applied, under new build or refurbishment projects, products such as Isocrete M-Bond Extra are the ideal choice, particularly in showers, due to the ability to lay to falls and incorporate a DPM. Gyms and indoor sports areas have their own requirements too, and here ergonomic sports flooring can really put a spring in the step. Flowcrete FlowSport delivers a flexible composite surface, providing a resilient, uniform, seamless and durable finish, which is hard- wearing as well as abrasion and impact resistant. FlowSport flooring eliminates glare and light reflection, is easy to clean and maintain, and provides a cushioned effect that delivers generous give in the floor.
Court lines and area markings can be applied in internationally recognised colours, and of major environmental benefit is the fact that 60% of FlowSport’s composition is based on recycled vehicle tyres.
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FOOD AREAS Environments where food is prepared, served and taught as a subject area, can all prove to be challenging for the specifier. In kitchens, food preparation areas and Food Technology spaces, hygiene is paramount and care needs to be taken to select floor finishes that ensure outstanding cleanliness at ground level. In these places, Flowcrete’s flooring range includes systems with antimicrobials that harness the natural power of silver for maximum hygiene performance.
These floors can be supported by design features, such as coving, to maintain a clean sweep between the floor and wall, removing harder to clean angled corners. For busy kitchens, the installation of an integrated stainless steel drainage system can also deliver a clean surface and aid the steam cleaning process, as well as helping reduce the likelihood of slips and trips.
Coupled with hygiene, health and safety also needs to be carefully considered. The presence of fats and oils, as well as fluids, make food areas challenging in terms of the management of slips and trips. However, correctly specified floors, with the right grade of resistance, can help to reduce falls in areas where accidents are more likely to occur.
To combat slips and trips, friction – and therefore a better grip to the floor for users – is usually achieved by introducing a coarser finish, often aggregate, to develop the necessary resistance.
Dry areas such as dining areas usually have a lower requirement for slip resistance than wet areas and, therefore, smoother surface finishes can be used; however, care needs to be taken in the specification to ensure that the floor measures up to what the area is being used for now and any changes that may occur in the future.
www.tomorrowsflooring.com
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