BUILDINGS, MAINTENANCE & REFURBISHMENT
Sports hall and dance studio floors – what’s the difference?
W
ould it give your school more flexibility if you knew that a modern, good
quality sprung floor is suitable for both multi-purpose sports and most dance disciplines? For new build schools and refurbishments
where a new dance floor is needed, the designer or school representative will often ask for a floor that is “not a sports floor” because they have been told that sports floors are not suitable for dance. At first, I found this surprising because I knew that both dancers and athletes needed similar performance from the floor. After some time, I began to understand how this misperception was created. Dancers and athletes prefer a floor that is
Comment by Richard Aylen Technical Manager, Junckers Ltd
comfortable, safe and will not cause them fatigue. This translates into a floor that is shock absorbing, has the right level of slip resistance (not too little, not too much) and does not deflect too much when the person lands on it. Good housekeeping also demands that the floor needs to be quick and simple to clean and scuffs can be removed easily. Here in the UK specialist dance floor suppliers
will often tell customers that sports floors are not suitable for dance. This is largely an attempt to keep sports products out of “their” market. Any company that offers both sports and dance floor systems knows this argument simply does not add up. It is revealing that specialist dance floor suppliers publish performance data for their floors using technical standards designed for sports floors! Alongside this their rationale is that sports
TNi roofing systems bridge the gap at a primary academy
F
lat roof waterproofing systems by TN International
(TNi) were specified for a primary school refurbishment because they excelled in two key areas - technical support and value for money. TNi's Börner Hybrid Warm
Roof System, including LogicPIR insulation, was used on the reroof of North Leigh Church of England Primary School Academy in Witney, Oxfordshire. Specialist sub-contractors
and TNi Approved Roofing Contractor Midland Felt Roofing were on site for 10 weeks, installing the TN30 Hybrid System incorporating Safe2Torch detailing, while the 190-pupil academy, a member of the Oxfordshire Diocesan Schools Trust, was operational during the works. Specifier Tom Fry, a building surveyor with the Oxford Diocese, explained
that TNi carried out the initial site survey, prepared the specification, monitored the installation, and signed off the work with a 30-year guarantee covering workmanship and materials. Having worked with the company's roofing specification team member
Terry Davis MIoR before, he was impressed with the technical service and support provided by TNi, along with the wide variety of waterproofing options offered. Indeed, the diocese has now used TNi systems on a number of school projects in the past three years.
uwww.tnroofingsystems.com 36
www.education-today.co.uk
floors are hard and unyielding (not true), and sports floors are designed for ball sports, which is of course not relevant to dancers. Badminton players will know that not every indoor sport uses a ball, yet both dancers and athletes’ tendons and joints are equally protected by a shock absorbing floor and having optimum slip resistance. There is a technical performance standard for
sports floors (EN 14904), but no equivalent standard exists specifically for dance floors. There is a reason for this. Some years ago in the US, the dance community discussed the creation of their own technical standards. They compared dancers’ needs with the existing sports floor standards being used in Europe and the US. They found that the German sports floor standards DIN 18032 was also very suitable for multi-discipline dance. In 2006 the DIN standard was superseded by EN 14904, which is very similar. This is why you will see references to EN 14904 and DIN 18032 in technical information from both sports and dance floor manufacturers. Proof it was needed that the fundamental performance of sports and dance floors is the same.
What does this mean for schools in the UK? If you have a “sprung” sports or dance floor that complies with EN 14904, or the current Sport England recommendations, especially if you have an area elastic floor (e.g., hardwood rather than soft cushion vinyl surface) your activity spaces may be more versatile than you thought.
Deanestorwins 12th fitout contract for Morrison – a £1.8m education project
D
ue for completion in 2022, the new
Winchburgh campus near Edinburgh is being delivered by Hub South East Scotland for West Lothian Council and will provide two new secondary schools, a primary school with an early years facility, and a sports and wellbeing hub. Deanestor will fit out over 340 rooms across the campus, manufacturing
bespoke furniture in a light maple wood finish. The contract includes the provision of over 300 base cabinets, 940m of white laminate worktops, over 1km of adjustable shelving, 16 teaching walls, 215 resource storage units, as well as write-on teaching aids, shoebox storage units, and wall cupboards. David Wright, Construction Manager at Morrison Construction, said,
“Deanestor has successfully delivered a number of education contracts for Morrison, including the award-winning Barony Campus in Cumnock, East Ayrshire and more recently at Calderwood Primary School, which like Winchburgh, was for West Lothian Council. Their team has an impressive track record in fitting out complex multi-school campus projects and a good level of technical competence in the design, manufacture and installation of furniture for large-scale education schemes.” Ramsay McDonald, Managing Director of Deanestor Scotland, said, “We
are delighted to have secured our 12th project for Morrison Construction. This latest Scottish education project reaffirms our market-leading position in the education sector and our specialist capabilities – from school furniture design and manufacture to project management, logistics, procurement, and installation.”
For further information,
visituwww.deanestor.co.uk/education, call u01623 420041 or
emailuenquiries@deanestor.com
February 2022
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