The landmark educational facility and icon of West London, the City of Westminster College has finally opened to over 8,000 students on the Paddington Green Campus. One of the many outstanding design solutions and innovative features for the college was the specification of the norament® Loose Lay rubber floor tile.
The new main campus has been designed by international award-winning architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen to be state of the art, sustainable and flexible. The building’s spiralling atrium and circulation areas remain sensitive to the surrounding environment, providing natural light and air ventilation amidst study zones and work stations. The norament® 975 LL (loose lay) floorcovering was an ideal choice in order to stay in keeping with the pioneering design of the college and support the unrivalled vision of Schmidt Hammer Lassen.
The norament® 975 LL product is a loose lay tile which is extraordinarily dimensionally stable and has excellent lying performance. The floor covering can be securely, quickly and cost-effectively fixed in a simple way without requiring the otherwise necessary subfloor preparation, using Quickfix dry adhesive stickers. The cost effective, easy to install floor system, allowed for installation of the rubber tile over a very short window during the program. Throughout the schedule of the construction phase, this enabled other contractors to develop and complete works under the floor which would normally be inconceivable. The system of self adhesive quick fix squares enable the rubber tile to be laid off grid across a raised access floor without any further preparation or bond. The tile in essence was installed straight onto the panel, allowing for a very rapid installation process which in turn helped to reduce the otherwise lengthy fitting period required for traditional methods of application.
Ultimately as with any large project, flexibility is always beneficial and the loose lay system ensured that regardless of floor void, any maintenance or repair that is required under the floor, the system confidently supports the reinstatement process. Across 8,000sqm of floor space this is a practical advantage which guarantees flexibility and movement required throughout the construction phase and for any future works.
norament® 975 LL benefits from the special features of the loose lay along with the characteristics which make other products from nora® floor coverings world renowned. The latest loose lay product combines existing and pioneering characteristics: the floorcovering does not contain any PVC, plasticizers or halogens, is extremely durable and easy to clean thanks to the extremely dense, closed surface and nora cleanguard®.
nora® rubber floorcoverings are repeatedly preferred for schools worldwide, thanks to the high resilience and low maintenance costs. For years to come, The City of Westminster College will benefit from the revolutionary loose lay product of nora® rubber floorcoverings
