SPORTS and fitness surfacing specialist, Jason Lewis-Lamb, representing TVS Group, was recently invited to visit one of the finest luxury hotels in Lancashire: the Crow Wood Hotel and Spa Resort, Burnley.

As part of a multi-million pound refurbishment project the purpose of his visit was to survey the private members fitness club, then offer to the client a robust mix of aesthetically pleasing, practical and functional floorcoverings for the existing and newly-built fitness spaces in the club.

Having established a comprehensive understanding of the project brief with Oliver Brown, a director at Crow Wood Hotel and Spa Resort, discussions about the advantages, disadvantages, features and benefits of a broad range of possible floor finishes were held.

Suitable products were then presented, appraised and ultimately evaluated by Crow Wood’s project design team and other key stakeholders who were directly involved in this project.

Says the company: ‘Through this consultative approach, everyone in the team was confident in selecting the correct products for the intended application, opting for safe, high-performing and cost-effective floor finishes that are designed to withstand the physical demands of the various user groups and activities.’

The interior designers were also said to be pleased with the options as they were able to choose from an ‘exceptionally wide range of finishes, selecting floorcoverings which would best complement the overall look and feel of the broader refurbishment scheme. For example, in both exercise studios, an attractive, low-profile, sprung engineered oak flooring was selected.

‘This flooring system with high shock absorption, great resilient strength and uniformity was considered an excellent fit for a wide range of physical activities, but particularly yoga and highly choreographed movements set to upbeat music.

‘Conversely, in the strength and conditioning area of the club, where people are expected to drop weights such as dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells, repeatedly, the physical characteristics of the floor finish needed to be very different from the studios, and the substrate requires ongoing, long-term protection’.

To accomplish this, says the company, 40mm-thick, heavy-duty, inter-connecting rubber gym tiles were identified as a suitable solution for this space and TVS Group went on to source, supply and then install the well-known SPORTEC Style Tiles.

Furthermore, according to the company, the impact-absorbing nature of this ‘specially designed, modular, rubber floor tile, consisting mainly of recycled rubber granules, is considered advantageous in environments such as this and helps reduce structure-borne impact noise and vibration while offering a stable and grippy surface to suit any free weights areas, both from the perspective of the gym operator, and the gym user’.

In fact, the company continues, elastic floorcoverings like this are considered the ideal flooring solution for these types of settings. ‘Additionally, from an environmental perspective these rubber tiles, which are made mainly from recycled rubber car tyres, are also 100% recyclable when the product lifecycle comes to an end. Throughout the rest of the club, including cardio, fixed resistance and functional areas as well as general circulation spaces and stairwells, a low maintenance, water-repellent and highly resilient vinyl floorcovering, containing bacteriostatic and fungistatic treatment, was preferred. This flooring is available in an ever-increasing range of customisable colours and finishes to achieve the desired aesthetic, in this instance a polished concrete design was selected to best suit the overarching scheme of the refurbishment.’

Oliver Brown said: ‘It’s too early to forecast the long-term financial impact of our investment but we’re certainly well positioned now for long term growth with an asset that all stakeholders can be proud of. Within the first two months of reopening our doors to members, trading was resounding, and we recorded a record number of new gym memberships which was extremely pleasing to see.

‘Regarding the floor finishes throughout the entire fitness club, I’m happy with the products and services provided by TVS Group and I’d be happy to hire them in future. Overall, the project was a real success and everyone is very pleased with the outcome. We’re now moving onto phase two of our site redevelopment plan which is a £16m refurbishment of other areas of the resort.’
www.tvs-group.co.uk