Some say that are we are losing our sense of community in this country, in that modern society has eroded the very strands and glue that bonds people together. That’s certainly not the case in Kinghorn, Scotland.
Within pebble-throwing distance of the stunning Scottish North Sea shoreline and just across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh lies the Kinghorn Community Centre. It’s a haven for the local community in this small coastal town, providing a range of activities for all age groups, including parent and toddler groups to senior citizen groups. And local clubs and organisations can also hire the facilities.
Making sure that the Kinghorn Community Centre had minimal disruption when they needed to renew their flooring was at the very top of their shopping list. Many of the local community depend on the centre to provide a range of crucial services that both enrich people lives and enable them to have a better quality of day-to-day living. So a lengthy shut-down of the centre was out of the question.
International flooring and interiors specialist Gerflor had been chosen to originally supply their Taraflex Multi Use 6.2 and last October during a time that suited the centre it was overlaid with Gerflor’s Taraflex Eco- Fit. It was ideal choice as the Kinghorn Community Centre hosts numerous amounts of sport activities and social events which includes weddings, recreational clubs and community-led parties.
Margaret McKay, Kinghorn Community Centre Manager said: "The flooring was laid in October of last year. We chose this time as we are quite quiet during the school holidays. It meant we only had to cancel our evening bookings."
The new overlay at the Kinghorn Community Centre is as innovative as it is original. This is no imitator. The Taraflex Eco-Fit System is an eco-friendly, free-floating installation solution that saves time and money, achieving the lowest lifecycle cost.
Minimising downtime it allows existing sports surfaces or multi-purpose floors to be left in place and overlaid; and 80% less adhesive is required so VOC emissions are also reduced.
The Taraflex Eco-Fit system is suitable for sports and community projects and is ideal for use over existing sports floorings, such as resin, parquet and PVC, where there is no risk of rising dampness. It offers a solution on new surfaces, on upper floors, over service ducts or sealing membranes, and flat floor surfaces in accordance with EN Standard 14904. Quick and simple installation means that, on average, two installers laying the floor will take two days less to complete a 1000m² sports hall when compared with standard installations that need to be secured to the floor with adhesive.
A key element of Eco-Fit is the surface complex, D-Max+, which is reinforced with a double fibreglass grid to provide the material with strength and excellent dimensional stability. As an eco-friendly solution, it is easy to repair during the material’s life while end-of-life material recycling is simple. Concrete no longer has to be torn up when stripping floors.
Margaret McKay went on to say: "If we had had to lift the original floor we could not have gone ahead as the cost would have been astronomical as no-one knew for sure the state of the sub structure of the floor.
"We are very happy with the end result, It allows us to have functions without putting another floor down on top of the sports floor. The flooring looks great, is easy to clean and we even bought a rotowash on the recommendation of Gerflor.
"Our customers like it very much, especially the badminton players and it’s totally fit for purpose."