"natural floor coverings"

The German company Knauf Integral was able to prevail against competitors with its GIFAfloor DB green raised floor system. A maximum flexible and individual floor due to the interchangeability of the individual panels, a non-combustible building material with A1 classification and the unproblematic recycling due to the lack of plastic edging, as is used in conventional raised floor elements, were decisive for the selection.Flexibility, health in the workplace and sustainability in construction - the 'Tour Alto' in Paris La DéfenseIn the Paris suburb of Courbevoie, in the office district of La Défense, the foundation stone was laid for the 'Tour Alto' - a 160 m high skyscraper which, after its planned completion in 2020, will have a usable area of 51,200 m2 next to countless offices, numerous restaurants, bars and fitness studios etc. will accommodate. For the floor structure, the property developer decided on the double floor 'GIFAfloor DB green' from Knauf Integral, paying particular attention to the aspects of flexibility, health, environmental protection and sustainability in buildings.The 'Tour Alto' office tower in the west of Paris extends over 38 floors and is part of the high-rise backdrop of the La Défense office district. Nevertheless, Bouygues, one of the largest property developers in the world, is setting new standards in construction: installed products not only have to be as flexible as possible in their design and use, they also have to meet high standards of sustainability and environmental compatibility as well as the highest health standards for people, who will do their jobs there every day.A maximum flexible and individual floor due to the interchangeability of the individual panels, a non-flammable building material with A1 classification and the unproblematic recycling due to the lack of plastic edging, as is used in conventional raised floor elements, were decisive for the selection.In addition, health and environmentally friendly aspects were the absolute focus of the project for the property developer: The selected product must contribute to excellent indoor air quality and all materials that come into contact with the indoor air should have A + according to French in terms of VOC and formaldehyde emissions Emission class to be rated. GIFAfloor DB green elements have exactly this A + certification - the decisive advantage compared to the commonly used raised floors with chipboard supports that contain formaldehyde. Independent (building) biological analysis laboratories also prove the excellent quality through their tests: Eurofins certifies the product as suitable for indoor use, and the Institute for Building Biology in Rosenheim gives the verdict " recommended ''. This ensures a healthy working environment for employees.With GIFAfloor DB green, Knauf Integral offers a sustainable and health-friendly double floor solution for flexible, high-quality commercial interior design. The elements consist of the homogeneous gypsum fiber material GIFAtec and are available in different thicknesses depending on the requirements.

When Colchester Academy in Essex required a new sports floor for their main hall and their dance studio, they turned to international flooring specialist Gerflor for an Olympic pedigree solution. For this prestigious education establishment, Gerflor would supply a total of 552m2 of their world class Taraflex® Performance vinyl sports flooring for the sports hall, and 258m2 of their Taraflex® Combi 85 System in Evolution for their dance studio.

In specifying the all-important flooring aspect of the project Blue Jelly would select some 113 sq m of Creation 70 LVT flooring from international flooring specialists Gerflor. This amazing range won the 2017 CFJ/CFA Product of the year and their Creation 70 product scooped the coveted Red Dot Design award last year, which is akin to receiving a ‘Design Oscar’.

The DYNAMIK sprung system finished with a solid sport linoleum allows the space to not only provide high performance sporting opportunities for alumni, but could be utilised for non-sporting events such as meetings, community groups and social occasions, due to its high indentation resistance and durability. DYNAMIK Sports have built a strong reputation for providing class leading internal sprung sports floor systems and are Sport England & BS EN 14904 compliant. DYNAMIK are the official sports flooring suppliers to Basketball England & England Netball.

The Gym Group benefitted from Tarasafe Ultra H2O, Vinyl Safety Flooring and GTI Max, Fast Track Vinyl Flooring in its extensive health and fitness facility.

Introducing the ultimate solution for a safer and healthier workplace - R-Tek Manufacturing's modular PVC safety floor!Our safety floor is specifically designed to reduce the risk of slips, trips, and falls, ensuring that your employees can work confidently and without worry. Made from high-quality PVC material, our safety floor is extremely durable and resistant to wear and tear, making it an excellent long-term investment for any business.Not only does our safety floor provide excellent slip resistance, but it's also incredibly easy to clean and maintain. With its hygienic surface, our safety floor is perfect for environments that require high levels of cleanliness, such as hospitals, laboratories, and food processing plants.Installing our safety floor is quick and easy, with minimal disruption. With its modular design, you can easily replace damaged tiles without having to replace the entire floor.We offer a combination of colours to differentiate between areas such as walkways, racking areas or wheeled traffic zones, however we can also print your health and safety messages on our award-winning R-Tile range.The R-Tile offers a range of health and safety advantages:•Anti Slip Protection•Industry-Standard Certifications•CE Accredited•Fire Retardant•Chemical Resistance•Noise & Dust Reduction•ESD / Anti Static•REACH Regulated •A+ BREEM Standard•Sustainable & Recyclable 

Thistle’s Centre of Wellbeing in Edinburgh wanted floorings that couple function and style with the necessary attributes. Consequently, floorings for the gym and meeting rooms were specified. It was Gerflor’s Taraflex® Evolution in Wood Oak that satisfied Thistle’s clear brief for a good looking, comfortable, hygienic, high performing, durable, easy-maintenance gym flooring. It also fulfilled the requirements for a product that could contribute to the warm, welcoming and friendly aesthetic.

Situated within the city of Leeds is the recently refurbished Kings House, which is now a prominent multi-tenanted office building. The interior design aspect of the refurbishment would be the responsibility of Wetherby-based Design Tonic Limited. In specifying the crucial flooring aspect of the project Design Tonic would turn to international flooring specialist Gerflor to supply 400m2 from their award-winning Creation 70 Looselay LVT flooring range.

Fulneck School were seeking a new and improved sports surface to freshen up the hall and transform their indoor space. For this reason, DYNAMIK overlaid the old timber school sports floor with a DYNAMIK seamless Polyethylene (PU). We advocate the benefits of solid synthetic surfaces for exceptional durability and seamless installation. Ryan Walker, Director of Sport at Fulneck School, had this to say: "The new flooring has really transformed our indoor space. It is now a first-class facility and all students at Fulneck School will really benefit from using it when we return".

Ireland's newest major sporting venue, the inspiring Aviva Stadium, required a fittingly impressive entrance and exit zone aesthetic for its opening year. Accommodating up to 50,000 seated spectators meant issues of safety were key to the specification process, and the entrance flooring system chosen had to be the highest level functionally as well as aesthetically. Fortunately, Forbo Flooring system's extensive portfolio of entrance matting systems offered the ideal products for the job. Robust, smartly attractive and with moisture absorbing qualities for anti-slip safety, Nuway Tuftiguard was used for entrance areas

When Whitmore High School in Barry, Wales were undergoing a massive £30.5M transformation that required over 6000m2 of new flooring they turned to international flooring specialist Gerflor for their specific project needs.The contractor for the project would specify a mix of Gerflor’s Taralay Impression Compact and Comfort flooring, together with their pedigree Taraflex® sports flooring, alongside their world renowned Tarasafe flooring products, together with their Mipolam ESD EL7 dissipative flooring.Steven Birchenough, Project Manager for the Main Contractor Morgan Sindall said, “Gerflor have a wide selection of flooring products to choose from. We needed a single supplier to provide us with the best-in-class flooring for many areas of the facility.”The installation of such prestigious and large flooring project would be the responsibility of CS Flooring, Cardiff. Anthony Mynett, Director, Carpet Services (Cardiff) Ltd commented,” This was a huge project for a new build school installation and the specification of Gerflor products for the vast amount of flooring needed was absolutely the right choice due to the high quality and performance they deliver every time.”

In completing the £21M Park Hill Flats restoration project on a Sheffield housing development Kier Construction and architects Whittam Cox specified 4000m2 of high-quality vinyl flooring from international flooring specialist Gerflor.The project would provide a showcase for two of Gerflor’s signature flooring products -the Taralay Impression Compact heterogenous collection and their slip resistant Tarasafe Standard safety range. Both these innovations would prove to be the ideal solution for Beton House which is the third phase of the Park Hill Flats estate.In choosing both Taralay Impression Compact and Tarasafe Standard from Gerflor the rigorous specification standards set by Whittam Cox and Kier Construction would easily be met.Andy Gordon, Gerflor Area Sales Manager, Northeast commented, “We collaborated with the architects Whittam Cox in the first instance and wrote a specification which included three thousand square metres of our Taralay Impression Compact flooring for the communal areas and one thousand square metres of our slip resistant Tarasafe Standard for the student bathroom areas. The client is absolutely delighted with the final outcome of the Gerflor flooring, and we understand the flooring is performing exceedingly well and meeting all the clients’ expectations.”

It’s not everyday you get a phone call from an architect asking for help on a grade 2 listed mill building, but that is what happened to us back in April 2017 when Stephenson Studios contacted us with a problem they were having with floor to ceiling heights on their Brownsfield Mill project in Manchester.Their design criteria was for the existing 75mm thick timber mill boards to be retained and each of the apartments in the building would have these as an exposed ceiling. The idea was to keep the building as rustic and to retain as much of the original look and feel of the listed mill building as possible. Because of this all of the acoustic (Part E.) and fire Building Regs. (Part B.) requirements would have to be installed above the existing floor.The drawings we were sent through identified a floor build up, on top of the mill boards, at nearly 300mm thick. This started with a self levelling compound on top of the mill boards, to level them to, and then a timber on timber solution with a final layer of cement particle board prior to the oak flooring being installed.This thick floor section was causing a problem due to the original oak beams that were in place meaning the floor to ceiling heights weren’t as high as they needed to be. This design was compounded flowing the removal of the bitumen floor covering. When the mill boards were exposed and then levels were taken across each of the floors it was clear that the original design was no longer suitable for the project.With the age of the building some of the mill boards were beyond repair and each of the floors needed levelling up so the use of self levelling compound and a timber/ cement board solution also became a very expensive solution. We were asked if we could come up with a solution that was able to reduce costs and time and also to be able to achieve the required acoustic and fire requirements for this type of conversion project.Our initial thoughts on the project was to use timber ferrings, 100mm wide at 600mm centres, to lay our Lewis Deck system onto. This was reducing the number of ferrings by 50% (these were originally at 400mm centres) and it also removed 4 layers of timber/ cement board as well as the self levelling compound from the project. Following a meeting on site however, and after being able to fully talk to the design team and developer about what the Lewis Deck system can do we agreed that we would look at putting the ferring strips at 1400mm centres with the Lewis Deck being laid across at these centres. Rubber granulate acoustic strips would be installed on top of each of the timbers and mineral wool insulation would then be installed between. This would allow more material to be removed from the project but crucially still hit both the acoustic and fire requirements of the project.A test floor was commissioned, by the acoustic engineer, and built in August 2018 which passed all tests. You can see from the photos below the Lewis Deck laid at 1400mm centres for the middle section of the test with the 15mm thick rubber granulate acoustic strip laid on top of the timber ferrings. These timbers, due to the nature of the mill boards below, had to be installed individually to differing heights.The first full delivery of Lewis Deck arrived on site at the beginning of June 2019 following on from the steel strengthening works that were being carried out on site.The deck was quickly installed across the whole first floor in just a couple of days and the first screed pour was scheduled for the following week. The whole floor was poured using an anhydrite screed in just a few hours.The project continued on and the last main section of floor was poured on 19th December 2019, exactly 6 months after the first of the pours.This grade 2 listed mill building was a great project to work on. One that gave us a lot of challenges to overcome from the outset and one that helped overcome a number of issues that kept dropping up as the remedial works on the building progressed. We are delighted with the final result.Developer: Urban SplashFloor Installer: Trent Construction Services Ltd.

The building features nearly 2,000 m2 of bespoke gravity lay raised floor panels. These are manufactured by Bathgate Flooring in our UK manufacturing facility. They supplied panels with a real maple lacquered finish. The complete development sees 4 floors of fully accessible maple finished raised floors manufactured to the PSA MOB PF2 PS/SPU British Standard Bathgate Flooring under the Permaflor brand. The complete installation included a full aluminum entrance mat bought and installed by Paragon Mat–Works and the complete raised floor was installed to an extremely high standard by SJ Durman Flooring.

The “44 Floors” in Rotterdam is the residential West Tower in the building complex “De Rotterdam”, completed at the end of 2013. The multi-functional building on the Wilhelmina Pier was designed by OMA, the office founded by Rem Koolhaas, as a vertical city offering a total floor space area of 160,000 m2 with offices, restaurants, a hotel and leisure facilities, in addition to the “44 Floors” apartments and parking spaces. The exquisite luxury apartments were fitted out with sanitary objects of the Subway collection from Villeroy & Boch.

As the summer season arrives and projects move outdoors, Sandtex Trade is issuing a timely reminder of its series of videos, produced to give specifiers the complete picture on exterior painting. ‘This Is Sandtex Trade’ is a series of five videos, presented by Crown Paints Product Trainer Kevin O’Donnell, which take viewers through a variety of subjects associated with painting outdoors. All five videos have been designed to meet the individual needs of specification professionals and build on the content already provided on Sandtex Trade’s website

Featuring the UK’s longest indoor real-snow ski slope, Soar at Intu Braehead is Scotland’s largest retail and leisure complex, attracting up to 17 million people every year. Construction Specialties were asked to provide an expansive entrance mat for the centre’s main entrance. The chosen product was CS’ Pediluxe entrance mat with Platinum covered exterior grade carpet inserts. They have stronger bristle than interior grade carpet inserts, assuring dirt and moisture is effectively removed from the soles of shoes. This enormous entrance mat strongly protects interior floor surfaces and maintenance budgets from foot and wheeled traffic.

The DYNAMIK Komfort Elite Play is an A4 area elastic floor system finished in Oak to provide a classic wood floor finish with all the benefits of a sprung system. Combined with DYNAMIK Acoustic Sports Wall panels the finished result shows a stylish Sports Hall.

Bolton School specified Taraflex® Comfort sports flooring for their main sports all and their top-performing Tarasafe Ultra for two of the changing rooms. The installation would involve some 780m2 of Gerflor flooring with game lines also being added as the final touch.

Creating a more welcoming arrival experience for children and their families at Leeds Children’s Hospital, Forbo Flooring Systems donated its time and flooring solutions to help transform what was once a tired entrance at one of the UK’s largest specialist children’s hospitals.Two state-of-the-art hospital buildings are being built at Leeds General Infirmary and one will be a brand-new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital. As part of the transition to the new spaces, Forbo supplied 600m2 of its Modul’up Compact ‘Fast Fit’ flooring to help transform the existing tired entrance space.

The restaurant at Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens features a Douglas Fir floor finished with Bona Traffic HD. The area was sanded back to bare wood using Bona’s ‘dust free’ system so no need to ‘tent’ the adjacent mezzanine area. Traffic HD was specified to provide the required level of durability in such a busy area. It's a very low VOC formulation which protects wood floors in highly trafficked areas. Its fast development time means busy commercial floors can be put back into full use just 24 hours after application.

Belfast Harbour’s estate spans over 8,000,000 sq. m. The award-winning 'City Quays II' development was completed in 18 months with a construction value of €31 million.Kingspan RMG Simploc was installed on the ground floor Management Suite, with RMG and RMG Simploc fitted on floors three through to seven. RMG performs to PSA medium grade, featuring galvanised steel-encapsulated panels that come with a 25-year total system warranty. The system has also been designed so that the flooring can be easily removed or replaced.

Gerflor’s highly proven, slip-resistant Tarasafe™ Standard vinyl flooring was found to be the perfect safety flooring solution for the heavy-duty, high slip-risk areas within the City of Hull’s new state-of-the-art, multiple events complex, named the Bonus Arena.

Built-In Flexibility26,000 sq. m. of Kingspan RMG600 Simploc raised access flooring.The key to creating a successful co-working environment is to build-in flexibility. To help futureproof Two Southbank Place, 26,000 sq. m. of Kingspan RMG600 Simploc raised access flooring was installed.

With over 2,000 m2 of floor space and seating for up to 1,655 people, the £12million Essex Sport Arena is another innovative facility where DYNAMIK Sport has installed their world class sports flooring. Home to the netball super league with 3 netball courts, 8 badminton courts, 3 basketball courts, 5 volleyball courts and 2 futsal courts, all available for hire to sports groups. The arena boasts DYNAMIK’s A4 area elastic sprung floor which we hope will play some part in supporting elite sport and the future successes of the teams.

ACS International Schools educate over 3,300 students across four sites. Firm believers that sport plays a huge part in personal character building going far beyond physical development, the school decided to invest in the best flooring system. Basketball and Volleyball are key activities within the new sports hall so in addition to two match basketball and three match volleyball courts there is a “show court” for both with seating for 400 spectators. The ideal DYNAMIK Helsinki sports floor system fully supports bleacher seating and the DYNAMIK Athen sports floor system was selected for the Dance Studio.

When Cardiff Castle wanted to regenerate an under-used space within the heart of the historic site, to provide a marketing and promotional suite for the city, they turned to international flooring specialist Gerflor to supply 200m2 of its stunning and award-winning Creation 70 LVT Halifax Stone flooring for the new area.

Project: Aylesbury Vale AcademyFlooring: 860m² - Maximus Click - French Oak StormFrench Oak - Storm | Maximus Click | Invictus® vinyl flooringContractor: Folkspur Flooring LTD

Modern Office Space Boosts the Local Economy. This new Breeam “Very Good” office space was supplied by Wilmott Dixon for Adur and Worthing Council. The Office Raised Floor System covres 2,242m2 open plan office space and is arranged over three floors with communal dining/tea point areas to accommodate around 300 employees. Bathgate Flooring Ltd were pleased to be a part of this project. The Construction Manager, Rob Douglas commented that; “THE COLLABORATION AND TEAM WORK ON THE PROJECT HAS BEEN BRILLIANT WHICH HAS RESULTED IN AN AWESOME JOURNEY AND FINAL PRODUCT…TOP JOB AND THANK YOU AGAIN!! “

When the Cliff Hotel in Gorleston-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, wanted to transform an out-dated breakfast room into a stunning new bar and dining area, MBS Flooring set about proving just how easy and creative one can be with Gerflor’s Creation 55 Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) flooring collection.

The requirement for a fast track flooring and durable solution would be well-suited to international flooring specialist Gerflor who would supply their amazing GTI Max flooring. This would prove it’s worth in saving both time and money.

The modern Smart Kids Kindergarten in Gdansk, Poland, is inspired by the Finnish teaching method, now recognised as one of the best methods in the world. The Finnish model is geared towards supporting creative activity. The Kindergarten impresses with an inspiring, stylish interior in subdued colours. On the floor Forbo Sphera homogeneous vinyl flooring has been installed.

IssueSaxen's 7,000 sq ft showroom, based in a renovated lace mill, displays a selection of some of the most innovative, contemporary, and stylish commercial furniture and accessories from across Europe. The showroom, boardroom, corridor, and breakout area needed a new floor which would create a perfect blend of design and style, aligning with the fashionable interior of the building which showcases modern furniture. ApproachEach adjacent area needed a unique design creating a natural flow through the building. As the areas are subject to high footfall from visiting customers and staff, the floor also needed to be durable, easy to clean and provide comfort underfoot with noise reduction. SolutionAltro Ensemble, an award-winning modular flooring system luxury vinyl tile was specified for each of the public-facing areas. With the ability to create unique designs, Altro Ensemble planks in colours Greige Rustic Oak and Anthracite Limed Harmonious Oak were laid in a herringbone pattern in the corridor, and block tiles in colours Anthracite Concrete and Fossil Stone through the showroom, boardroom and breakout area.

We designed, installed and project managed the installation of 5,344 sq. m. of high-performance RMG600 access flooring system throughout the building’s Grade A workspaces including leisure spaces, a three-storey atrium reception and roof terraces.

ROJECT NAME: RENOVATION PRODUCT SUPPLIED SUPPLIED: INSTALLER SELFBUILD CONTRACT FLOORS AEROMIX was chosen for this renovation project thanks to its many benefits of offering warmth, smoothness of finish and speed of install. This project came with a challenging access issue meaning a long pump distance and lots of services in the floor AEROMIX was the perfect solution. This was the perfect product, providing an ideal solution for the insulation for this project. Reducing CO2 due to reduced carbon emissions within the product. The installer who completed this project SELFBUILD CONTRACT FLOORS said AEROMIX was poured as insulated ground baring slab, installed at 250mm deep achieving the required 0.11 u-value, this allowed the customer to clip the UFH pipes directly to it before being topped with a 65mm C20 liquid screed AEROMIX provided the ideal solution for the insulation on this project, compared to the normal concrete floor and other traditional methods, the speed of pumping the insulation coupled with the high thermal properties has contributed in saving the customer both time and money. 

We supplied our partner, Fast Floor Screed Ltd with SMET LiteFlo® Lightweight Flowing Screed for the first floor of a timber frame house. This lightweight screed is ideal for renovation projects where loading is an issue. This is a high quality pumpable, factory-produced, CE marked, self-levelling screed based on calcium sulphate. German-made SMET LiteFlo® is unique because it’s the first pumpable lightweight flowing screed available. Made from specially selected aggregates – means it’s 30% lighter than conventional flowing screeds and can be laid in reduced thicknesses. The screed offers a high yield, 43kg per m2 @ 40mm.Innovative SMET LiteFlo® is particularly suitable for use in timber-frame builds, suspended timber floors, tower blocks, apartments, and high-rise buildings. SMET demonstrates best practice in construction partnerships – providing a superior level of customer service to their Smet Supported Partners during the installation process.Whether your job is – self-build, retro-fit, floor renovation or repair, design floor, commercial or shop, sustainable build, historical renovation, ECO build, Lightweight, or an industrial flooring venture – SMET have a flooring compound or ready to use product suitable for your application.www.smetbuildingproducts.com or www.smet.ie