In 1704 philanthropist Elizabeth Fuller of Watford founded a charity school on land adjoining the parish churchyard. The school became more fully a part of the maintained sector and took up Voluntary Controlled status in 1944. In 1990, a greatly expanded Watford Grammar School for Boys became a grant-maintained school controlled by its own Governing Body. It’s a success story borne out of forward thinking and planning.
Over the years Watford Grammar has required a high-quality level of refurbishment that has had to be both sympathetic in design yet provide future proof solutions that can really make the grade. The most recent development has been 500m2 of flooring in the school laboratories on the ground and first floors. This would be a perfect opportunity for the Taralay Premium Comfort and Mipolam products manufactured and supplied by international flooring specialist Gerflor to really make a difference to the school’s environment.
With more than 70 years’ experience of innovation driven by investment Gerflor is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of vinyl flooring. Gerflor specialise in the education sector, offering high performance solutions that combine technical and design characteristics for any room within the facility. The design of their products support studying in the best environment possible. The constraints of hygiene, resistance and acoustic qualities are part of mandatory characteristics for this market.
In developing part of the school’s infrastructure to the next level they would ultimately need to choose a main contractor who could deliver quality…and in a timely manner. From their offices in Hertfordshire and Leicestershire ‘Ashe Construction’ serve a great diversity of markets and industries with schemes which require new construction, internal and external refurbishment, alterations and fit outs. Their aim is to construct environments that enhance the lives of the people who use them.
Andrew Morris, Business Development Director, Ashe Construction commented, “there was a requirement for a STEM centre for Watford Grammar School this went to competitive tender and I am delighted to confirm that Ashe Construction successfully won.” He went on to add, “we specified Gerflor’s Taralay Premium Comfort and their Mipolam Accord EL7Anti Static vinyl flooring products. Both were a great fit for the project.”
A perfect option when specifying fresh new environments for a host of education projects, Taralay Premium Comfort from Gerflor provides the ideal solution for heavy traffic areas with a wear layer of 1mm, with no filler for outstanding abrasion and scratch resistance. The range is also available as an acoustic version, Taralay Premium Comfort delivers high acoustic performance (16dB) and has an indentation resistance to 0.06mm.
It has a double glass fibre grid plus VHD foam backing. Taralay Premium Comfort is also protected by the UV cured patented surface treatment Protecsol®2 from Gerflor which enables easy maintenance and eliminates the need for acrylic emulsion. Taralay Premium Comfort has a long- lasting appearance where the design remains within the whole thickness of the wear layer.
Mipolam Accord EL7 from Gerflor is a dissipative flexible homogeneous vinyl floorcovering available in both sheet and tile form, calendered and compacted. This floorcovering is treated with Evercare™: the latest improvements in polyurethane surface treatment obtained by UV laser cross-linking. Evercare™ provides outstanding chemical stain resistance and increases the long-term durability of the flooring. This treatment has excellent maintenance characteristics; it requires no wax for life! Mipolam Accord EL7 also acts as a continuous dissipater 106 ≤ Rt ≤ 108. The product is non-reactive to residual indentation with a value ≤ 0,02 mm. The flooring has a group P wear rating and is Bl-s1 fire resistant, together with providing a R9 slip resistance rating in the wet. The product is non-emissive of volatile organic compounds with TVOC after 28 days ISO 16000-6 µg/m3 < 10. Mipolam Accord EL7 also comes with a Floorscore® certification and is 100% recyclable. On the question of specification Andrew Morris went on to further say, “Gerflor have a known reputation for robustness and quality in this particular sector.” Finally adding, “Gerflor are also known to be very reliable when it comes to this kind of installation method. We have specified Gerflor many times before and would have no qualms in choosing their products again.”
Learn more about Gerflor solutions, ask for a free sample or contact us to speak to a specialist today by calling 01926 622 600, emailing contractuk@gerflor.com, or visiting gerflor.co.uk for the latest innovations.
