TVS Group was approached by the University of Glasgow, as its competition hall floor at the Stevenson Sports Facility was in dire need of repair.
The brief from the university was to turn this into an iconic venue, with a dream of offering one of the best sporting venues in Scotland. TVS Group presented a proven solution: ‘an elite-level Robbins Bio-Channel Star flooring system’.
Robbins is said to be the preferred sports flooring provider to most of the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams such as the LA Lakers and Chicago Bulls, and is reportedly recognised worldwide for its quality, performance, and their dedication to player safety.
Through a committed R&D department, Robbins is reportedly pioneering the advancement in sprung timber flooring from the perspective of reducing involuntary muscle activation and the associated rate of injury occurrences in athletes from muscle fatigue.
‘It does this through their anchored, vibration controlling, flooring systems. The Robbins Bio-Channel Star sports flooring system was chosen with confidence by the university, even after concerns were raised over the temperature range, airborne humidity and location of the sports hall.
‘When removing the original sports floor a subfloor was exposed which required a huge amount of work. These works were then checked by a UKAS accredited test lab, ensuring the floor installation was completed to the best possible standards offering the highest level of play.
‘Once the substrate was corrected, the patented continuous subfloor system was anchored to the concrete using a specialised fixing which allows movement of the floor but controls vibrations. To deal with excessive range in humidity and temperature, non-standard maple floorboards were produced for this project, and then installed over the sub-layers.
‘This level of precision in the installation ensures the sports floor complies to the highest international standards such as EN14904, and MFMA PUR. As the brief from the university was to create an iconic sporting venue, custom branding was included within the design. For this level of detail, TVS used the Bona Supersport HD system. Using multiple layers of Bona materials created a unique finish fit for this prestigious project.’
Jane Kennedy, head of operations, sport at the University of Glasgow had this comment: ‘The University of Glasgow Sports Hall plays host to more than 50 sports clubs and more than 14,500 members. The university needed a floor that was suitable for any sport, sustainable and would allow our top student teams to achieve their potential on a state-of-the-art surface. We’re delighted to be the first university in Scotland and only the second in the UK to have an NBA-worthy Robbins floor system from TVS Group.
‘Our BUCS (British University College Sport) winning basketball team has started playing on the new court and are delighted with the improvements. We look forward to welcoming everyone from the university community!’
The University of Glasgow team now joins the University of Kent in the TVS Group and Robbins family and, says the company, ‘we can’t wait to see how their athletes use and enjoy the facility for many years to come, especially as this type of sports floor is designed with a system lifespan of between 50-60 years of anticipated use’.
www.tvs-group.co.uk
