THE Friar Park Millennium Centre in Wednesbury was in dire need of a fast-track refurbishment for its leisure facility. The existing linoleum was unsafe and not fit-for-purpose for the various activities that needed to take place in the sports hall for the local community.
It was also beyond economical repair and needed to be replaced with an alternative, affordable solution. Gerflor’s Taraflex sports flooring was specified for this prestigious project.
The client chose Taraflex Evolution in ‘London Light Blue,’ owing to it being ‘extremely durable and hardwearing, while not compromising on delivering the necessary safety and comfort’ for facility users.
Over 300sq m of Taraflex Olympic pedigree sports surface was installed, providing a solution to the needs for the specific project specification.
Friar Park Millennium Centre was built for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Friar Park neighbourhood, the town of Wednesbury and the wider area of Sandwell.
The charity manages, maintains, and develops the community centre to ensure the building provides a welcoming, accessible, and safe environment for all sections of the community.
The charity that runs the centre aims to be responsive to the changing needs of the community by maximising the use of the recreational facilities which are open to everyone, and by providing activities which promote health and wellbeing, lifelong learning opportunities, economic opportunities, regeneration, and community safely.
The sports hall has a multi-purpose mission which includes providing activities for younger generations such as youth clubs, sports and dance.
There are also other services supplied for the locally retired/vulnerable people in community, who wish to participate in other forms of exercise and leisure, as well as holding social networking and entertainment events such as Bingo.
Julie Jones, ceo of Friar Park Millennium Centre commented, ‘The existing linoleum floor in our sports hall was lifting and not fit-for-purpose. I wrote a bid to Sport England and was successful, which enabled us to have the renovation work carried out.’
Chris Newey, Gerflor area sales manager, West Midlands, said at the time, ‘The Friar Park project came about because the linoleum floorcovering that needed replacing, was beyond economical repair and it was becoming a potential hazard and dangerous for the leisure facility users.’
Julie Jones, ceo of Friar Park Millennium Centre also added, ‘When looking at what was available in the market for a sports surface that would meet the stringent requirements of our facility, and when getting the quotes together, Gerflor were timely and professional in their responses.
‘They demonstrated to me well, that the Taraflex sports flooring is world-renowned for its hardwearing and durability qualities. It was important for the specification, that the chosen indoor sports surface was able to also perform in a multi-purpose hall for the various activities that we hold.
‘The sports flooring would also need to consistently deliver safety and comfort for all our users, regardless of their ages and ability when participating in various sporting and leisure activities in the leisure centre. Taraflex meets all these requirements.’
The installation element of the Friar Park project was undertaken by Birmingham-based Pinnacle Flooring which is an accredited flooring specialist in commercial flooring and hygienic wall cladding. Working directly with leading manufacturers, ‘it knows the market inside out to bring customers a range of flooring solutions for a vast range of projects.
‘With a wealth of experience across a wide range of sectors such as school flooring and sports flooring, it has an unrivalled reputation among their clients for quality, trust, and expertise’.
Commenting on the Friar Park installation Aaron Jennings, estimating manager, Pinnacle Flooring said: ‘The project came about as we have an exceptionally good working relationship with Gerflor, and we’re proud to have installed Taraflex in many sites across the UK. We’re familiar with the product range and its ease of install. The installation itself took only about one week using two of our highly experienced fitters.’
On specification and specific challenges Aaron went on to comment: ‘As on most refurbishment projects, there’s always uncertainty with floor preparation, which can bring a challenge. However, on this occasion there were no hiccups, and everything went according to plan.’
Aaron concluded: ‘Our client Friar Park Millennium Centre is extremely delighted with the final result. The installation of Gerflor’s Taraflex sports flooring has surpassed the end-user’s expectations. We’d certainly specify Gerflor products on future projects owing to their high levels of quality and extreme durability.’
Chris Newey added: ‘The customer is really pleased with the new Taraflex sports floor, which has totally transformed the hall giving it a fresh and contemporary look that will last for many years to come.’
Julie Jones ended with: ‘This iconic refurbishment was absolutely necessary for all the users of the facility today and also the future generations of tomorrow. We’re confident our choice in selecting Gerflor’s Taraflex sports flooring will futureproof our building interiors and we’d definitely specify Gerflor products for other future projects.’
Taraflex indoor sports surfaces overview
Taraflex sports flooring has reportedly been fitted at every Olympic Games since 1976. Says Gerflor: ‘Approved by many national and international governing bodies as a world-class sports surface, it’s also widely installed in the education, community, leisure, health, and fitness sectors. Taraflex is suitable for newbuild projects and refurbishments and is extremely durable and cost effective to maintain. More than 6m pupils everyday enjoy the benefits of Taraflex sports flooring as it delivers a versatile range that can be used for various multi-specialist applications.’
Taraflex Evolution is available in 17 all over colours and four wood-effect designs as standard, with an addition of 110 solid colour options available.
Continues Gerflor: ‘The improved Taraflex Evolution product is now even safer, better performing and offers even more protection than before. The greater protection has been obtained thanks to a total re-engineering of the CXP-HD foam technology that provides cushioning for exercise and sports play.
‘Gerflor’s Taraflex Evolution continues to be the market benchmark in sports floors with outstanding durability, improved comfort and protection offering a P1 category shock absorbency (25% to 35%) and a new 7.5mm thickness.’
Ads the company: ‘Taraflex Evolution offers maximum hygiene with bacteriostatic and a fungistatic treatment and comes with the Triple Action Protecsol surface treatment which provides easy maintenance, friction protection and ‘intelligent’ sliding coefficient.
‘The surface reinforcement which delivers durability and abrasion resistance is provided by a unique D-Max fibreglass grid. Taraflex sports floorings are available with a complete range of shock absorption P1/P2/P3 ratings, so the right solution can be specified every time, whether it’s for exercise or play or both and for all ages and ability.’
The family of Taraflex sports floorings are said to be sustainable solutions thanks to their ‘unique product construction’. In Gerflor’s words they are as follows:
Indoor air quality: Meeting ISO 16000 standards, some of the lowest VOC emissions on the market
Energy saving: A colour selection with high light reflectance values assists with lighting energy saving
Reduced maintenance costs: the Protecsol surface treatment is the most durable on the market. It ensures minimal maintenance and exceptional sustainability of the product
Proactive post manufacturing waste management: Use of recycled content in product design and the PVC is also 100% recyclable.
A second life programme for post installation waste – reuse of post-installation waste and redundant materials is possible.
Selected and responsible raw materials – NO heavy metal, NO solvent, NO formaldehyde, NO substance potentially subject to REACH restrictions (REACH is the European regulation on registering, assessing, and authorising chemical products in the European Union).
01625 428922
contractuk@gerflor.com
www.gerflor.co.uk
