A development project at Alsop High School in Liverpool has incorporated products from Forbo Flooring Systems Marmoleum and Sarlon acoustic vinyl ranges, contributing to a contemporary finish in keeping with the specialist technology college’s modern ethos.
The project included the construction of a state-of-the-art new facility housing classrooms, a sixth form centre and a new canteen, as well as extensive refurbishment of the existing buildings, which have been in place since 1926.
As the largest secondary school in the city with more than 1,700 students on the roll, safety, durability and long-term performance were key requirements for the flooring specification.
“With such a high level of foot traffic, the flooring needed to be hard wearing, resilient and cost effective,” explains architect Martin Shutt from 20/20 Liverpool. “We’ve used Forbo’s Marmoleum on many previous projects and knew it would meet these requirements, so we used sheet Marmoleum as the main flooring component throughout the upper levels of the building.
“This also helped us achieve a smart, modern interior that compliments the building’s contemporary design. The interior features crisp white walls emblazoned with colourful graphics and bold splashes of colour in the fixtures and furnishing, so we wanted the flooring to provide an understated canvas against this. The dark grey tones of the Urban Night colourway were perfect for creating this effect – and as Marmoleum is such a durable product, we knew it would continue looking fresh for many years to come.”
Forbo’s Marmoleum is coated with Topshield2, a double layer water-based finish that delivers exceptional floor performance. This unique finish provides a highly effective protection against scuffing and dirt, whilst offering effective resistance to stains and chemicals, resulting in reduced cleaning and maintenance requirements.
Furthermore, Marmoleum is the only resilient floor covering to have been awarded the ‘Seal of Approval’ from Allergy UK, thanks to the fact that it does not harbour allergens – promoting a healthier indoor environment and contributing to students’ wellbeing while in the building.
“We also had strict sustainability targets to meet within the project and so Marmoleum was ideal in this respect too, as it is made from natural materials and has a high recycled content,” continues Martin.
“For the canteen and ground floor corridors, however, we decided to use Forbo’s Sarlon vinyl as this enabled us to achieve the required balance of enhanced slip resistance and acoustic performance. It was also really beneficial to get all of the different flooring products from just one supplier as this helped to speed up the procurement process.”
For these areas, Martin specified Sarlon Canyon, a subtle tonal design, in the grey colourway. Delivering 15dB impact sound reduction, excellent indentation resistance and rated R10 for improved slip resistance, Sarlon Canyon is a versatile solution that is suitable for a wide variety of applications, but is particularly popular within the education sector.
Additionally, Forbo’s high slip resistant Safestep R12, in a dark grey with flecks of black and white, was installed in the kitchen. This product was ideal for this area, as there there is a need to protect staff from slip hazards associated with food and drink spillages.
Safer Osmani, Business Manager at Alsop High School, said: “The school redevelopment project has created a fantastic new learning environment for our students that we are really proud of. The focus throughout the project was on creating a high quality facility with a forward-looking interior and the smart flooring products from Forbo have certainly helped us achieve this.”
