Altro

Altro brings all things bright and beautiful to children’s hospiceIssueHaven House Children’s Hospice in Woodford Green, Essex, provides the highest level of respite and palliative care to families and young people from birth to 19 years old who have life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.In the hospice children benefit from a range of play activities, as well as day and overnight stays. They also have access to music therapy, aquatic physiotherapy, physiotherapy and therapeutic yoga.ApproachHaven House interiors needed to be hard-wearing and functional, because a lot of areas are clinical spaces. Altro was recommended by Great Ormond Street Hospital.A visit to Altro’s offices at Letchworth proved to be inspiration for the design scheme at Haven House.SolutionThe brightest and boldest Altro floor and wall products have been used, with rainbow staircases and cleverly colour zoned areas making the facility strikingly beautiful inside and out.A few months after the refurbishment, the feedback from children, staff and visitors to their new colourful environment at Haven House has been overwhelming.

Altro’s patient-centred ethos boosts wellbeingIssueAltro revisited Hillingdon Hospital, London, to see the lasting impact of products used to create patient-centred, healing, safe and homely environments in several departments.ApproachHillingdon’s Stroke Unit was vastly improved thanks to input from architect and healthcare specialist interior designer Georgia Burt of GBS Health and Altro, with the refurbishment of a bed bay, and also of the gymnasium; the area where important assessment and rehabilitation work takes place. Altro Serenade acoustic smooth flooring was used, with large nature scenes reproduced on Altro Whiterock Digiclad to create a patient-centred biophilic design, to bring the outside in.Christopher Knight, Capital Projects Manager, Estates Department, at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has seen a real difference for patients and staff.SolutionAll the spaces have been transformed by the refurbishment in so many ways. Compared with how they looked before there really is no comparison; they have gone from dull and clinical to bright, light, colourful and comfortable, but still meet very strict guidelines for safety and infection control.Altro Serenade is ideal for spaces where comfort underfoot and impact sound reduction are paramount for patients. It is 3.9mm thick and has 19dB impact sound reduction. Along the walls of the gym is an image of a bluebell wood, in Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom). In the Stroke unit bed bays, a wildflower meadow runs along the entire wall above the bedheads.

Altro wall solutions support fight against COVID-19ChallengeNew Jersey’s Holy Name Medical Centre was at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, coping with an alarmingly high rate of new COVID case admissions. It became clear that for Holy Name Medical Centre to continue providing its patients with crucial life-saving care, their existing Intensive Care Unit (ICU) space would need to undergo an essential update.Approach“Our ICU was built in the 1960s and was in need of an upgrade,” stated Melissa Candela, Holy Name Medical Centre’s Manager of Design and Construction. “Our experience at the epicentre of New Jersey’s outbreak triggered an action plan to transition the outdated space to a unit with the highest technology, safety, and design standards, in addition to strong functionality.” The design of the unit needed to prioritise interiors that could endure frequent cleaning and disinfecting routines while helping to create a design-oriented space with a patient focus.SolutionHoly Name Medical Centre selected Altro Whiterock White and the decorative Altro Whiterock wall designs throughout the ICU to create a high design, hygienic space for patient treatment. Altro Whiterock is a hygienic walls system, providing smooth impact-resistant surfaces and leaving dirt and bacteria nowhere to hide. This is especially practical in the case of Holy Name Medical Centre’s ICU, where thorough cleaning is vital in promoting the safety of patients and staff alike. Altro Whiterock wall designs can be used alongside Altro Whiterock White to create a less clinical feel in patient areas.Altro Whiterock wall designs give elegance to interior walls while providing the durability you expect from an Altro Whiterock wall sheet.

Sustainable focus and biophilic aesthetics for new schoolSwitching the specification from adhered floors to adhesive-free, gave an approximate carbon saving of 59.27%, saving 3,893.34kg of Co2 emissions.IssueHolyrood Academy provides secondary education for 11–18-year-olds in Chard, Somerset. One of the schools’ values is for pupils to ‘be supported and challenged to achieve the very best they can.’ Carrying this ethos through into the furnishing of a new school extension, main contractor BAM Construct UK wanted to utilise sustainable products, reducing the buildings carbon footprint, and ensuring the build was delivered to timescales and budget.ApproachTo ensure the project was finished as sustainably as possible, representatives from BAM Construct UK, Altro and Recofloor met to discuss options for specification, and managing and recycling waste from the build.After the consultation, and with prior knowledge and experience of previous successful installations, adhesive-free floor options were reviewed and selected based on the cost, time, and carbon-saving benefits. “It was imperative we delivered the build to timescales, but as sustainably as possible. The adhesive-free floors saved project time and reduced carbon output.” said Graham Holt, Construction Project Manager, BAM Construct UK.SolutionCreating maximum impact with minimum downtime, Altro Wood adhesive-free was specified for the dining area and Altro Cantata adhesive-free was specified for the corridors and communal areas, providing a safe, durable and decorative solution for the busy spaces.Altro Stronghold 30 was specified for the commercial kitchen providing comfort underfoot and keeping staff safe from slips.Hard-wearing Altro Walkway 20 was specified for the toilets providing abrasion resistance, PUR cleanability, and superior chemical and stain resistance.Altro Stronghold 30 achieves Altro’s highest rating for slip resistance (PTV ≥55, R12) and is designed to minimise risk in wet and greasy conditions for the lifetime of the flooring.Altro Walkway 20 is a versatile, hard-wearing safety flooring for general purpose areas. A contractors favourite for over 30 years as it’s easy to install.Altro Wood adhesive-free uses our award-winning adhesive-free installation method, it can be welded and walked on the same day, and at the end of its life can be removed easily, allowing it to be reused or recycled.Altro Cantata adhesive-free provides enhanced cleanability making it ideal for busy public spaces where disruption needs to be minimal, and it has no associated adhesive odours.

Altro solution brings life to design-led Hull birth centreA complete floors and walls solution from Altro has been used to create a relaxing, stylish home from home environment for mums-to-be in a new birth centre at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.The new midwife-led Fatima Allam Birth Centre meets the needs of women who want a more natural childbirth experience.Andrew Ledger, contracts manager for Apleona, which provides facilities management for the building, oversaw the new construction and was part of the team that devised the overall concept.“We specified Altro floors and walls from the start because we are using these products elsewhere in the hospital with a great deal of success. They meet all our clinical hygiene and infection control needs, while also offering a superb range of colours and textures, which makes them ideal for creating a modern and stylish environment.“The quality and durability of Altro is a major factor too because, as a PFI project, the long-term cost is under close scrutiny.Adele Howitt, from Studio Eleven Gallery & Workshop in Hull, won a commission from the hospital to design the interior concept.“Once we had decided on colours, we worked closely with Altro to look at the specific products. They completely understood our practical and aesthetic needs.”“I used Altro Whiterock Digiclad to create statement walls from floor to ceiling. This is a fantastic product for design-led projects because you can print any image or photograph onto it, and the quality is superb.”Adele chose Altro Whiterock Satins for the shower rooms. She says “It has some wonderful shades, and the subtle, sheer texture is very stylish.”Flooring for the birth centre was key to creating the homely, nonclinical feel. Andrew Ledger and the project team wanted natural, warm, wood-effect flooring and chose Altro Wood.Andrew says: “Wet areas in clinical environments need to be very safe underfoot, so we chose Altro Pisces safety flooring for both the shower rooms and around the birthing pool. This flooring performs superbly in both wet or dry conditions, and with bare feet or shoes, so it’s perfect for keeping both patients and staff safe. Altro Pisces also looks good enough to work within our design themes and there are some great colours.”The flooring was installed by Floorcovers UK. Partner Phil Morris said: “For quality and reliability Altro is the best, and they are a pleasure to work with."The Altro wall sheet was fitted by Richardson Claddings. Owner Joe Richardson comments:“The beauty of the Altro walls system is that it is so quiet, easy and clean to install. Altro sends the sheets to us ready-cut, which means minimal cutting or shaping on site.”Andrew Ledger says: “We get a lot of medical professionals visiting from around the world and they say the centre is the best of its kind they have seen anywhere.“Most importantly, the mothers who have given birth here are thrilled with it too.“After each birth, the rooms are completely disinfected and cleaned, and the Altro floors and walls are proving very easy to maintain.“We are delighted with this amazing facility.”

IssueHutchesons’ Grammar School is a co-educational, independent school in the southside of Glasgow. Founded in 1641, the school has a long-held record of academic achievement and offers pupils an unrivalled choice of extra-curricular activities at its primary and secondary schools. The kitchen, serving area and coffee/dining hall ‘The Bistro’ were being modernised to bring the facilities up to date and in keeping with the school’s standards of excellence.ApproachAfter a visit with an Altro Specification Consultant and considering the need to keep project timescales as short as possible, the installation needed a quick to lay, robust solution for the floors. With a unique blue and grey colour scheme tying into the school’s brand and emblem, the floor design needed to match this.SolutionAltro Wood adhesive-free in colours Soft Maple and Vintage Oak were installed in the dining hall and kitchen servery, helping to reduce the installation time by 50%, quickly returning the area to use.Altro Ensemble was installed in the Coffee/Bistro area in a diagonal, mixed pattern of colours Greige Rustic Oak, Medium Grey Harmonious Oak, Barrel Oak and Tobacco Limed Striking Oak.Altro Stronghold in colour Monsoon was installed in the kitchen, providing safety from slips and comfort underfoot for the busy staff.

IssueSheffield Olympic Legacy Park Stadium was created after a collaboration of key institutions decided to deliver an Olympic legacy through the four themes of sport, community, environment and economy. The park has an ethos to achieve physical and mental health and wellbeing by providing world-class facilities for community sports, from grassroots up to elite levels.ApproachWith the need to provide inspirational interiors for aspiring Olympians, Alex Parojcic, Architect at Whittam Cox knew that a high-end design, complemented by technical performance and ease of maintenance was required for the new changing areas, showers and physiotherapy suite. “Ceramic tiles had originally been specified for the showers and changing rooms, but we switched to Altro Tegulis when we realised the installation would be quicker, give a fantastic look and feel to the areas,and provide the cleanliness and hygiene standards required for such busy areas.”Joe Richardson of Richardsons Cladding who completed the installation, added “Altro Tegulis was a quick and easy install which assisted with the contractor’s tight programme. If this had been done in the ceramic tiles it would have impacted the programme massively.”SolutionAltro Tegulis, partnered by Altro Aquarius were specified for the showers, providing safety from slips in shoes and barefoot. For the changing rooms, where traffic from football studs, sports shoe spikes and bumps/knocks from sports bags and equipment would be experienced, Altro Atlas 40 was specified. Altro Wood provided a less clinical finish in the physiotherapy suite.Altro Tegulis tile-effect wall panels offer the ideal alternative to traditional tiles for wet rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and retail spaces. With a range of tile-effect patterns offering a grout-free alternative to tiles, Altro Tegulis offers a more familiar feeling than traditional wall panel sheets.Altro Atlas is well suited to areas where the risk of a slip is high, including heavy duty industrial use and sports changing rooms. Hard wearing, stable, and resistant to mechanical damage and chemicals, Altro Atlas 40 provides long term durability and slip resistance, and is easy to clean and maintain.Altro Aquarius is a specialist solution for combined wet and dry, shoe and barefoot areas. Keeps you safe with common contaminants such as shampoo and conditioner.Altro Wood is a general purpose 2mm wood-effect vinyl safety flooring available in a range of designs with different plank sizes.

Calm and non-clinical environment for busy ICUChallengeHospital environments are created to heal; yet supporting both physical and mental health needs in clinical environments can be challenging. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Harrogate District Hospital required a refurbishment to its walls and wanted a non-clinical design, but with hygienic properties. Approach The unit had different areas with different functions – it needed to have hygienic, clean, wipe down walls which were also robust and could withstand bumps and scuffs. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the refurbishment needed to be completed quickly with minimum downtime to ICU. The team also wanted the unit to have a non-clinical feel. Solution Altro Whiterock White, Altro Whiterock Chameleon, and Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) were selected for the walls in the ICU. The hospital’s paediatric unit had Altro hygienic wall sheets installed previously and knew they were robust and trusted products. The ICU staff and project design team took time to select artwork of cherry blossom branches that would be cheerful yet calming for patients, as well as inspiring and uplifting for hardworking staff. The images were printed to create the Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) wall sheets.

Calm and non-clinical environment for busy Intensive Care UnitChallengeHospital environments are created to heal; yet supporting both physical and mental health needs in clinical environments can be challenging. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Harrogate District Hospital required a refurbishment to its walls and wanted a non-clinical design, but with hygienic properties.ApproachThe unit had different areas with different functions – it needed to have hygienic, clean, wipe down walls which were also robust and could withstand bumps and scuffs. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the refurbishment needed to be completed quickly with minimum downtime to ICU. The team also wanted the unit to have a non-clinical feel.SolutionAltro Whiterock White, Altro Whiterock Chameleon, and Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) were selected for the walls in the ICU. The hospital’s paediatric unit had Altro hygienic wall sheets installed previously and knew they were robust and trusted products. The ICU staff and project design team took time to select artwork of cherry blossom branches that would be cheerful yet calming for patients, as well as inspiring and uplifting for hardworking staff. The images were printed to create the Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) wall sheets.

Dynamic interior spaces created for flagship care homeIssue Quantum Care were launching their flagship care home, Mantles Court, and wanted an interior design that created a warm, welcoming and comfortable space. Quantum Care asked WHAT IF? Designs to create the interior spaces with a non-clinical feel, making the state of the art, 78-bed care facility feel like a home-from-home for residents. Approach WHAT IF? Designs looked at the flow of resident living spaces and the needs for each area. Communal spaces including lounges, dining and kitchen areas required floors that were easy to clean, looked fantastic and provided safety from slips. For the ensuite bathrooms, a softer, neutral coloured floor with slip resistance for both staff and residents was needed, while bedrooms called for a more homely, domestic feel, with comfort under foot as a priority. Solution Altro Wood was chosen for the dining room, bedrooms and the hair salon for its natural, homely, good looks. Altro Aquarius and Altro Pisces, with their wide colour palette and lifetime sustained slip resistance, were selected for the ensuite bathrooms, providing safety for shoe and barefoot users. And in the communal areas, Altro Ensemble was chosen for its flexibility and design choices as well as its noise reduction and comfort underfoot.

Calming and practical spaces created for neurodiverse residentsIssueA unique housing concept was created on the Foxcote housing development in Heald Green by Bloor Homes and Stockport MBC in partnership with MSV Housing Association and Lifeways care provider. The house was to provide fully adapted, independent living accommodation for young people with autism, learning difficulties and mental health issues.Built on land sold by the Seashell Trust, the house was designed as a single supported dwelling, providing living spaces for three young adults with neurodiverse needs.The home needed to convey a biophilic feeling of space and light, with muted tones and earthy colours.ApproachMSV Housing Association, Sara Darwin of Phi Architects and the parent of one of the young adults worked hand-in-hand to create a specification for the build that considered all requirements. This included a connected, welcoming, shared living, dining and kitchen space that could be separated as and when needed, individual homely bedrooms, a calm and soothing sensory room, safe and hygienic bathrooms and kitchen area – all of which were anti-pick, reduced transference of noise and provided ease of cleaning.SolutionIn the dining and kitchen area, Altro Wood Comfort in colour Aged Oak was specified bringing a biophilic feel into the open areas. The bathrooms were furnished with Altro Whiterock Satins in colour Linen, Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) walls with an underwater theme, and Altro Pisces safety floor in colour Cuttlefish. Altro Pisces was also specified for the individual toilet. Altro Wood Comfort provided comfort and sound reduction throughout the house in the bedrooms, sensory room, and hallways.Altro Whiterock is the hygienic alternative to tiles that’s impact resistant, grout-free and easy to clean.Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) walls give you the ‘wow’ factor in the simplest way. Great for areas where looks count, for feature walls, entire spaces, and to aid with wayfinding, Altro custom walls are ideal for a huge variety of public spaces.Altro Pisces provides superb performance whether wet or dry, in shoes or barefoot in wet environments where the likelihood of a slip is very high.Altro Wood Comfort offers aesthetics combined with comfort and safety. It’s an ideal choice for areas that need to look good while helping to give comfort underfoot.

IssueWavendon Community Hub has been created and designed to provide local residents with a place to meet and take part in physical and social activities. In keeping with surrounding properties, Wavendon Community Hub is constructed in red/buff brick, with pitched tiled roofs. The building comprises two separate halves: a community side with a vaulted hall space and a separate, large multi-purpose area with changing facilities. The floors needed to perform for different needs and uses, providing robust durability, safety from slips, but still provide welcoming good looks.ApproachThe project was designed by W E Architecture Ltd and the build was completed by Borras Construction Ltd, with flooring installed throughout by HC Coverings Ltd, using Mapei floor preparation products.SolutionResilient flooring was specified throughout the centre and installed over underfloor heating. Designs specified throughout the 500 square metre area included Altro Wood in the communal areas, Altro Aquarius in the toilets, showers and changing rooms and Altro Walkway 20 in corridors and back-of-house areas.

A complex project with a sympathetic renovation for its usersIssueThe North Tyneside Area Command Headquarters in Wallsend, Newcastle Upon Tyne, was a new £23m development incorporating office facilities, custody suite and police HQ serving the local community on this 6-acre site.ApproachConsiderable effort was made to ensure that all requirements were met in terms of durability, performance requirements and design. Bespoke blends and colours were developed to ensure that the finishes matched both DDA requirements and those set by home office guidelines as well as matching the concept of such a modern building from a design and colour perspective.SolutionThe colours selected by the designers create a stunning, bright, clean environment for those in custody. The building’s focal point, the central atrium, is spherical in shape which allows a large degree of natural light within the building, whilst other areas are designed to be functional and yet modern. High ceilings and wide width corridors also provide a significant feeling of openness and space.Altro Proof™ eliminated delay in the programme by tolerating damp, difficult surfaces and suppressing moisture on all the internal surfaces. This allowed subsequent full opacity coverage with a single coat of special Altro Tect further reducing project cost and time.Altro Seal reduced the gloss levels to provide the necessary diffused light reflectance and low glare to facilitate the necessary CCTV operation.Altro Screed™ 4mm variant and Altro Screed™ 3mm vertical variant were provided in standard and bespoke colour-ways for the flooring and rendered surfaces to meet the particular regulatory and design needs.The Altro Proof collection gives you the ultimate in easy-to-apply damp-proof membranes. An effective single coat application provides protection across a range of moisture contents from relative humidity of more than 75% to 97% wet, (surface dry).Altro Tect is a solvent-free high-build epoxy resin and offers a robust gloss finish. Available in a wide variety of colours, it gives good chemical and abrasion resistance.Altro Seal water-based matt variant is a resin seal that is easy to apply and provides a cosmetic clear matt finish when used over Altro Flow, Altro Screed and Altro Mosaic.Altro Screed is a solvent-free epoxy resin system providing a good level of chemical resistance.Altro Flexiflow can handle impact yet be flexible enough to move with your building.

The Milton Keynes Hospital Paediatric Emergency Department was undergoing a refurbishment. The overall aim was to create a child-friendly environment that would appeal to children of all ages.AD Architects designed the new unit and chose Altro Orchestra to create two colourful, reception play areas. The variety of different shades and textures gave scope for an enchanted woodland forest theme to be created using Altro Orchestra throughout. Altro Suprema safety flooring was also fitted in the new unit’s observation areas, treatment bays and examination rooms. The new unit was built by Parias Commercial Interiors, and the Altro flooring fitted by Total Flooring. Altro Orchestra flooring helped to transform the Paediatric Emergency Department to a wonderfully bright, colourful area that children love to play in. Altro Orchestra offers comfort underfoot making life easier on the feet for staff and visitors, and with a palette of 40 colours and designs — varying from calming neutrals reflecting tones of nature to vibrant shades — it creates the right atmosphere every time. The Altro Suprema flooring provides a great, practical flooring which is ultrasafe, but also very stylish and it really adds to the environment. The hospital staff are thrilled with the result.

Design-led interiors for supported living homesIssueA dilapidated former care home was being redeveloped into high specification, modern flats, and communal spaces. The new flats were to provide bespoke, accessible accommodation for people with autism, learning disabilities and physical disabilities, with an on-site café open to the community. The aim was to create bright, modern, living, and communal spaces, without an institutional feeling.ApproachThe flats offer different levels of support for residents. Support provided within people’s own homes is tailored to each person’s needs and supports individuals who are stepping down from secure units and hospitals including those who may have experienced previous placement breakdowns.Interior Designer Penny Green, having worked with Altro products for many years, liaised with Altro to select a range of floor options to deliver flexible solutions in the different application areas, suitable for resident’s needs.SolutionAltro Ensemble modular flooring system was specified for The Foundry Café, bringing the benefit of 15dB sound reduction, and added comfort underfoot.In areas with a higher risk of slip, Altro Wood was selected to match the colour scheme, providing a biophilic safe option together with homely aesthetics.Altro Pisces specialist safety flooring, designed for shoe and bare foot use, was specified for all bathrooms and wet rooms. For the Foundry kitchen Altro Stronghold 30 was selected to bring safety and comfort underfoot for staff, and Altro Reliance 25 was specified for the back of house and delivery areas bringing a hard-wearing and durable finish."WOW is the best way of describing the interior…fresh, appealing, homely, very good taste - well thought out and not what supported living places are usually like."Tina Hanson-Jones Project Manager, Precious Homes"We work collaboratively to create a home for people – a calm haven, a safe space. We use a palette that allows people to add their own personality."Penny Green Interior Designer

Altro Serenade reduces noise and increases comfort for schoolIssueThe newly-constructed £17 million Reach Free School has created places for 840 secondary level students in a cutting-edge environment. Architect ADP’s concept for the school was an open plan space with a lot of openings that connect the various floors. This meant the potential for noise and reverberation throughout the school was quite high. The Reach Free School specified vinyl flooring rather than carpet, for robustness and ease of cleaning. It was also important for the school that the flooring would bring comfort underfoot. Reducing noise throughout the new building was a priority.ApproachADP consulted an acoustician at the early stages of the design, and were advised that a flooring with an acoustic rating greater than 17dB would give significant reduction in noise from footfall, chairs scraping in the classrooms and overall background noise volume.Altro Serenade flooring was recommended by Horizontal Limited, which installed 1500m² of the flooring on the ground and first floor in all communal areas, stairs and classrooms.SolutionAt 3.9mm thick, Altro Serenade provides 19dB impact sound insulation to reduce noise and provide comfort underfoot. The Reach Free School selected the shade Encore, a pale grey with a good textural design which complements the strong school colours of teal blue and purple."I would recommend this flooring to anyone that wants a hard-wearing, great looking modern solution that also helps to reduce noise and increase comfort in the environment."Richard Booth Headteacher at The Reach Free School"Altro Serenade fit the brief perfectly. It’s ideal for this type of busy, noisy environment where there is a great deal of foot traffic. Many manufacturers struggle to make good acoustic flooring that doesn’t mark or indent but, with Altro Serenade, Altro has cracked this issue with a superb quality product."Jonathan Bown MD, Horizontal Limited

Altro is at the birth of a new designIssueTwenty-five years since its last refurbishment, the maternity Delivery Suite at the Royal Cornwall Hospital was in need of a revamp. The new facility has been created to ensure mothers, babies and families have a home-fromhome experience, but in a clinical and psychologically safe environment. The maternity Delivery Suite comprises of nine delivery rooms and also includes a high dependency unit. With these very high traffic areas, robust, yet good looking interior design products were a must.ApproachThe team wanted to bring an essence of Cornwall into the space to evoke the calming influence of the sea and the natural world, but needed a solution with proven clinical credentials in safety, hygiene and maintenance.“Every staff member in the maternity department was asked to submit their ideas for the new space, their vision, both practically and visually,” said Zoe Nelson, Acute Maternity Matron at the hospital. “Our Estates Department Manager, Duncan Clift, recommended Altro, because he has used them before in the hospital with great success and trusts their products.”SolutionThe Royal Cornwall Hospital chose Altro Wood and Altro Pisces safety floors in colours to represent sand. For the walls, they selected Altro Whiterock Satins in ocean hues to mirror the sea, and Altro Fortis Titanium wall protection in Pearl and Battleship to replicate rocks. Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) was used to portray wall art of Cornish ocean scenes. The result is a beautiful environment that promotes a relaxing birthing experience for mother and baby.

Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro is the biggest hospital in Cornwall. The corridor needed updating quickly and required a durable solution to withstand high footfall and wheeled traffic in the area. Altro Cantata adhesive-free flooring was combined with Altro Fortis Titanium wall protection.

IssueThe Woodland Village is a purpose-built facility within Sherwood Forest Center Parcs. The concept has been developed over several years across all Center Parcs villages providing a guest attraction dripping in the magic of Christmas from start to finish, offering more than just a “meet and greet” with Santa. The lights, music, animations, and the occasional elf, guide visitors on a journey through the Woodland Village and on to Santa’s Woodland Workshop.As a multi-functional facility, set in a forest, Santa’s Woodland Workshop needed a floor that could withstand all the “muck and mud” of the wilderness, trudged in by the rangers and their little helpers. The floor design would also need to be suitable when the village operates as a Christmas retail outlet providing welcoming aesthetics and having the durability to cope with heavy foot traffic.ApproachAltro floors have a proven history within Center Parcs having been successfully installed at Center Parcs villages across the UK and Ireland. Floors that matched the internal Woodland Village ‘earthy’ design, the corporate branding of the Rangers’ Hut and Christmas shop, providing safety from slips together with easy cleaning were required.SolutionWith PTV >36 slip resistance, Altro EasyClean Technology and a 10-year guarantee Altro Illustra was specified for the Rangers Hut, providing a naturally safe, clean, simple yet effective design. Able to cope with medium to heavy traffic with sustained slip resistance, Altro Wood was specified for Santa’s Woodland Workshop bringing a forest feel to the busy guest attraction.Of course, only families visiting Santa are allowed to see inside the Woodland Workshop and view the festive floors, “You see, Santa really does exist” said lead designer, Darren Binney of Jackson Design Associates Ltd.

Inspirational interiors for award-winning stadiumIssueSheffield Olympic Legacy Park Stadium was created after a collaboration of key institutions decided to deliver an Olympic legacy through the four themes of sport, community, environment and economy. The park has an ethos to achieve physical and mental health and wellbeing by providing world-class facilities for community sports, from grassroots up to elite levels.ApproachWith the need to provide inspirational interiors for aspiring Olympians, Alex Parojcic, Architect at Whittam Cox knew that a high-end design, complemented by technical performance and ease of maintenance was required for the new changing areas, showers and physiotherapy suite. “Ceramic tiles had originally been specified for the showers and changing rooms, but we switched to Altro Tegulis when we realised the installation would be quicker, give a fantastic look and feel to the areas,and provide the cleanliness and hygiene standards required for such busy areas.”Joe Richardson of Richardsons Cladding who completed the installation, added “Altro Tegulis was a quick and easy install which assisted with the contractor’s tight programme. If this had been done in the ceramic tiles it would have impacted the programme massively.”SolutionAltro Tegulis, partnered by Altro Aquarius were specified for the showers, providing safety from slips in shoes and barefoot. For the changing rooms, where traffic from football studs, sports shoe spikes and bumps/knocks from sports bags and equipment would be experienced, Altro Atlas 40 was specified. Altro Wood provided a less clinical finish in the physiotherapy suite.Altro Tegulis tile-effect wall panels offer the ideal alternative to traditional tiles for wet rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and retail spaces. With a range of tile-effect patterns offering a grout-free alternative to tiles, Altro Tegulis offers a more familiar feeling than traditional wall panel sheets.Altro Atlas is well suited to areas where the risk of a slip is high, including heavy duty industrial use and sports changing rooms. Hard wearing, stable, and resistant to mechanical damage and chemicals, Altro Atlas 40 provides long term durability and slip resistance, and is easy to clean and maintain.Altro Aquarius is a specialist solution for combined wet and dry, shoe and barefoot areas. Keeps you safe with common contaminants such as shampoo and conditioner.Altro Wood is a general purpose 2mm wood-effect vinyl safety flooring available in a range of designs with different plank sizes.

A dramatic space for a busy officeIssueSovereign House, a busy office building built in the 1980s, has a footfall of 800 people per day. Ben Adams Architect were tasked with creating a renovation that would tolerate this heavy use, while looking impressive and appealing in the longer term.ApproachThe front facade and reception areas of the building needed to be redesigned to create a welcoming and dramatic entrance, and to provide additional office spaces within the existing oversized and underused atrium.SolutionInnovative Altro Flexiflow resin flooring in Doe, a light grey colour, was selected to provide a practical, yet visually appealing solution to a challenging space. Specifying flooring for the reception and ground floor atrium was a challenge because the entrance is on a diagonal, meaning that floor tiles wouldn’t have worked.Altro Flexiflow is tough, flexible and can withstand the kind of movement that other resin floors cannot. It’s designed to recover from scuffs and knocks, so was the perfect choice for the day-to-day high traffic use in this Brighton office space.Altro Flexiflow has the benefits of a standard resin, but in addition is flexible enough to move with your building. Day joints can be overlaid with it and it takes up building movement so can be applied over existing expansion joints, within certain tolerances (see website for details).Altro Flexiflow is a polyurethane resin and couldn’t be easier to install. It’s self-smoothing, giving a seamless and uniform finish with uninterrupted lines, and can be laid over green concrete with Altro Proof™ damp-proof membrane, to speed up installation.It features a PUR top coat for UV colour stability, durability and ease of cleaning, and is available in 27 pastel, solid and bright colours with an eggshell-like finish."We needed a solid, high quality, visually appealing surface that was flexible enough to go down on the existing substrate, without cracking or bending with any structural subfloor movement."Julia Hamson Architect, Ben Adams Architect

Altro provides durable solution for seclusion room at psychiatric hospitalAltro Zodiac, Altro Aquarius, Altro Whiterock DigicladSpringfield University Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Tooting, South London and also the headquarters of the South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust. Springfield University Hospital has been the primary location for mental health services in south west London for over 175 years. The Trust serves 1.1 million people across the London boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth and employ more than 2,000 staff who provide care and treatment to about 20,000 people from south west London and beyond at any given moment.The hospital has a seclusion room with ensuite bathroom facilities for service users. The room was already installed with Altro Zodiac smooth flooring in the room, and Altro Aquarius safety flooring in the bathroom. The Trust added Altro Whiterock Satins and Altro Whiterock Digiclad on the walls to create a fully tanked room with one part joints, making the room resilient and secure. Altro Whiterock was also thermoformed into all the window frame reveals for extra security.The Director of Nursing and Quality commented: “In creating a new seclusion space on the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), we wanted to create a secure but therapeutic environment for our service users. We were able to take advantage of the ability to print a large image across one complete wall. The result is that we have a fantastic soft- focus leaf image with warm autumnal colours, which helps create a sense of calm.”Altro Whiterock Digiclad is created by reproducing a photographic image or vector art onto Altro Whiterock wall sheets, with consistent, photographic quality. Hard-coat technology provides scratch-resistant properties for added surface protection, making Altro Whiterock Digiclad ideal for areas where durability is important. In the seclusion room a calming image of autumn leaves was used to brighten the room and create a visual focal point.Altro Aquarius is a specialist safety flooring developed for use in wet and dry environments, providing optimum slipresistance for shoe and bare foot use for the lifetime of the flooring, and a colour range ideal for creating home from home environments. Combined with Altro Whiterock Satins, it can create an impervious and easy to clean surface from floor to ceiling that meets strict hygiene standards.

Altro floors for design and quality at busy aquariumIssueThe Deep Aquarium is an education and conservation charity and one of the UK’s largest aquariums, with over 3500 fish, stunning marine life and plenty of activities for all the family. Located in Hull, The Deep Aquarium takes visitors on a journey of the world’s oceans travelling through a unique blend of beautiful marine life from warm tropical waters to the cold Antarctic seas.With an average of 450,000 visitors a year, the high footfall had worn out the floors and needed to be replaced.ApproachThe Deep was keen to install a safety vinyl flooring for the visitor walkways and ramps. As The Deep is open from 10 am – 6 pm daily, work had to be undertaken at night. The gift shop and Two Rivers Restaurant were closed for the installation.SolutionAltro Reliance 25 was selected to provide a durable solution underfoot for the visitor walkways to keep visitors safe.Altro Wood was installed in the restaurant. Altro Ensemble, a modular flooring system, was installed in the customer Gift shop. All the products were chosen for their ease of installation, designs and guarantees."We chose the Altro flooring range based on their safe, hard wearing and attractive appearance for our customers. The choice in range appealed, giving us solutions to the different areas and environments within the attraction, complementing the styling and quality needed to work within the aquarium."Jason Bache Facilities Manager, The Deep"We had never used Altro Ensemble before and our fitters found it a very nice product to work with an install. The ability to offer our client a variety of floor solutions for the various environments was a bonus. I would have no hesitation of recommending Altro products to clients in the future."Jonathon Simpson The Hull Flooring Co Ltd

Altro flooring keeping school a step aheadIssueJapan’s school lunch program is a step ahead of others around the world where school children are provided lunch every day. Each day chefs cook nutritious meals for students usually consisting of carbohydrates, lean protein, vegetables and a dessert. The meals are sent to the classroom where a group of rostered students serve up the meals. They then enjoy the meal together including the teacher.This helps children to get a real world experience and to learn about nutrition, portion control, community, and an appreciation for healthy locally made food.ApproachBeing a food production area the meal centres need to provide a high level of hygiene and safety. A kitchen can be a danger zone. With oil and food scraps falling on the floor slip and trip risks are at an all-time high. It is important to provide a high level of slip resistance and cleanability. That’s why Altro was chosen.SolutionAltro’s safety flooring provides lasting slip resistance, durability and abrasion resistance, along with additional comfort underfoot. It is the ideal slip-resistant tough flooring for busy catering areas, where potential for spills and safety is a major factor.Altro Reliance 25 offers a choice of 27 colours, to create one solution for your tough areas. It can cope with high levels of foot and wheeled traffic without compromising on slip resistance and provides additional comfort underfoot. It achieves PTV ≥ 36 on the pendulum test giving sustained slip resistance throughout the lifetime of the product. Combine with Altro Fortis wall protection system for your toughest areas."Altro had an advantage over the competitor products due to its high reputation, slip resistance, the wide colour range, easy maintenance and project references." ABC Trading Co., Ltd."The combination of customer service and product value won us the project." ABC Trading Co., Ltd.

Expanding care options with fit-for-purpose solutionsAltro Wood, Altro Serenade, Altro Aquarius, Altro Stronghold 30IssueFounded in 1995, The Glen is part of the Willow Valley Communities network that offers ageing residents a mind, body and spirit approach to wellness. The Glen provides a range of support services including shortterm rehabilitation from surgery or illness, as well as specialised memory care for individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive disorders. The facility needed updating to allow residents to continue to enjoy the comforts of home while promoting their physical and mental wellbeing.ApproachTo continue its mission of designing programmes and places fit to people, Willow Valley enlisted CCS Building Group to manage The Glen expansion project, which began in 2018. CCS collaborated with their Altro representative, knowing Willow Valley’s history of using Altro products during previous renovations with proven success.SolutionThroughout its completion, The Glen project utilised multiple Altro floors. For resident rooms accommodating those receiving skilled care, CCS chose Altro Wood for its warm, domestic aesthetic. In the facility’s communal areas, Altro Serenade provides 19dB sound reduction to reduce excess noise. Altro Stronghold 30 was used in the facility’s kitchens for its superb slip resistance and comfort underfoot for busy staff. For residents’ bathrooms and shower areas, CCS selected Altro Aquarius specialist safety flooring for its high slip resistance value both in shoes or barefoot.

Bringing natural, simple and light aesthetics to busy campusIssueThe Aarhus University campus is easily recognisable with its long yellow brick buildings rising between trees, mature plants, lakes and paths in a park close to the city centre. The architecture of The Skou Building, which was named after Nobel Prize winner Jens-Christian Skou and is home to the Institute of Biomedicine, needed to be retained, while modernised.ApproachArchitect company CUBO Arkitekter designed the space, which was opened in 2018 and won the City Architects Award in 2019, with a focus on reinterpreting the campus architecture. The building is designed as two staggered lengths that meet in a central atrium. Glass slits have been inserted vertically throughout the building, affording wonderful views of the external spaces and the local cathedral.Inside there has been an emphasis on reducing the number of different materials used, to create a simple, bright and natural look throughout. At the same time, some of the organic, natural shapes in the green spaces outside are drawn into the building, promoting the biophilic design.SolutionThe first two levels of The Skou Building now feature white walls, oak interiors and large glass sections, continuing the biophilic feel. To provide safety throughout the 9000 m2 of corridors and laboratories on the top six floors, Altro Walkway 20 in Cloud has been used, reducing the risk of slipping to one in a million. In addition, 750 m2 of Altro Walkway 20 SD static dissipative flooring in Fog has been used in laboratories which had specific safety requirements. To complete the biophilic design, works of art have been used throughout the building to bring the outside in.

Providing a resident community with lasting comfortIssueThe Village Langley consists of a large community centre and six corresponding cottages. Dedicated to ensuring that residents coping with the degenerative effects of dementia are able to direct their own day-to-day living in a safe, natural environment, The Village provides holistic care centred on forming relationships and finding a sense of place in one’s surroundings.Each cottage features the comforts of a typical home environment, including a living room, dining area, an open kitchen and private rooms with adjoining bathrooms. Small groups of residents live together in these spaces, allowing trained household teams to focus on their individual abilities and promote an improved quality of life.ApproachThe Village collaborated with NSDA Architects to develop the most efficient layout possible. This involved finding a flooring solution that would address the residents’ unique needs, while adhering to the desired home-like aesthetic.SolutionVisual perception plays an important role in designing for memory care facilities. High-gloss surfaces and complex patterns can cause disorientation in residents and potentially increase the risk of injury. Non-glare finished floors such as Altro Wood avoid compromising vision in these environments.“The beautiful matt finish was essential to eliminate glare and reflections that can be detrimental to residents with dementia,” explained Dust.The firm specified Altro Aquarius for resident bathrooms. In the community centre and activity rooms, Altro Operetta was chosen for its ability to withstand high volumes of traffic. Altro Stronghold 30 was used in its commercial kitchen area to provide its staff with the highest available slip resistance.Altro Operetta is a robust floor perfect for medium to high traffic areas that is easy to clean and maintain. It has attractive, natural and contemporary colours and finishes.Altro Aquarius is especially suitable for environments with high slip risk in wet and dry conditions. It achieves class B according to DIN 51097 for barefoot use, as well as a pendulum test value (PTV) of ≥50 (slider 96).Altro Wood is an attractive, general purpose safety flooring with design and colour options that match Altro Wood adhesive-free and Altro Wood Comfort to achieve a consistent look in different areas.Altro Stronghold 30 achieves PTV ≥55, R12 with 3mm thickness. Altro Stronghold, combined with Altro Whiterock wall sheets, provides an impervious, easy to clean and safe Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) approved solution for kitchen environments."Altro Wood was selected for the cottages for the warmth of its woodgrain and visual familiarity for the residents. It provides excellent slip resistance to mitigate resident falls."Brian Dust Architect, Principal at NSDA"Altro has a well-thought-out line of products with exceptional technical and design features that coordinate well together. Residents, families and healthcare professionals have been highly complimentary on the home-like cottages, and Altro products have contributed significantly to the aesthetics of the buildings."Brian Dust Architect, Principal at NSDA

Innovative technology firm chooses Altro for its new HQChallengeTriton Systems Inc. are a global product venturing and investment company, developing innovative ideas from concept stages to commercial fruition. In order to accommodate their rapid growth and expand production capabilities, Triton needed to relocate its facilities and headquarters to a newly renovated space. The remodelled site includes a host of upgraded amenities, such as new laboratories and development centres, to enable a full spectrum of in-house operations ranging from chemistry and biology to machining, testing and virtual reality.ApproachLocal design firm Fishbrook Design Studio, collaborated with Triton to create the ideal interior for their new site. In the laboratory areas, the studio specified Altro Walkway 20 safety flooring to promote employee safety and achieve the desired aesthetic.Solution“We were looking for attractive flooring solutions that offered safe environments, cleanliness, low maintenance and durability,” explained Kristin Naumann, Director of Design, Fishbrook Design Studio. “For my renovation projects, Altro products offer a great looking, durable way to upgrade hightraffic areas such as common areas and workspaces.”

IssueA 15-year-old bathroom in a housing development was looking tired and dated and the owner wanted to refresh the area with minimal disruption in a quick timescale. The bathroom had three walls of ceramic tiles, and a sink splashback, which were in good condition but were unfashionable and required high levels of maintenance to remove limescale and mould.The property, a first floor flat, had easy access but no lift, so equipment, materials and any waste needed to be carried up and down the stairs.Approach“We wanted to replace the ceramic tiles, without having to re-plaster the bathroom walls which would mean a complete renovation and redecoration project,” said Helen Green, the owner. “We live in an area with hard water and limescale is a real problem so a wall that is easy to keep clean would be ideal.”SolutionAfter liaising with Altro customer services, the new Altro Walls ShowerKit was recommended as being the ideal solution as the wall panels can be installed over existing ceramic tiles and provides ease of maintenance for residents. There is also no requirement for construction materials or heavy equipment as Altro Walls ShowerKit is lighter to transport than ceramic tiles.

Bright modern spaces created in quick timeframeIssueA rental property in Stourport-on-Severn needed a quick refurbishment, allowing the landlord to turn the property around for tenants who were keen to move in. The main areas to be refurbished were the kitchen and bathroom, both of which needed to be fully re-fitted, providing a fresh, clean home for the new residents.ApproachThe landlord had previously worked with Altro and needed quick to install products, which would provide ease of installation, durability, and ease of cleaning. “We had received information about a new product, Altro Walls ShowerKit, and were keen to try it out. The house needed a quick turnaround as our tenants were waiting to move in. The installer was also keen to have products that were easy to manoeuvre, carry up and down stairs, and resulted in less waste” said S. Birch, Landlord.SolutionAltro Ensemble luxury vinyl tile in colour Pewter Concrete was selected for the kitchen, providing a luxury feel together with comfort underfoot and impact sound reduction.Altro Walls ShowerKit in colour Cool Mineral and Stacked Metro design was selected for the bathroom, partnered with Altro Wood adhesive-free* in colour Post Oak. The combination of an Altro floor and wall results in an easy-to-maintain and safe space, giving the bathroom a homely aesthetic, with ease of cleaning and our Altro one in a million slip resistance reassurance.*(Altro recommend a specialist safety floor, such as Altro Aquarius or Altro Pisces, for wet room and bathroom installations)Award-winning Altro Ensemble is a modular flooring system that gives complete design freedom to create stunning floors for interior spaces. From colour blocking to geometric patterns, the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.Altro Wood adhesive-free creates maximum impact with minimum downtime providing a safe, durable, and decorative solution for busy spaces.Altro Walls ShowerKit is suitable for all residential bathroom and wet room installations. Available in a range of colours and designs, from classic white to tile-effect, helping to create a neutral and clean appearance or a contemporary ambience.