With a rich history dating back to when it opened in 1910, Downsbrook Middle School in Worthing is proud of its excellent facilities and educational environment it provides to its pupils. When it received funding from West Sussex County Council a few years ago it was able to carry out a significant refurbishment and expansion programme.
Part of the re-development programme included work to the inner courtyard, where it was decided the space should reflect the bright modern décor that could be found inside the school. Designers wanted to inspire pupils while offering the school a hard-wearing surface that would stand the test of time, and even wanted to incorporate the school emblem into the flooring somehow. They turned to SureSet and Dural to provide a solution.
A windmill design incorporated into the flooring…no problem!
The school worked closely with designers and it was decided to incorporate the school’s windmill emblem into the flooring to celebrate the school’s heritage and local roots. The town of Worthing had many windmills which records depict were built around the start of the 19th Century. Two mills in particular, The Navarino Windmills, were located at the southern end of Ham Road (later renamed Dominion Road) where the school is located. These were unfortunately demolished at the start of the 20th Century, but their legacy is an important factor in the history and future of Downsbrook Middle School.
Dural and SureSet were able to combine their resin flooring products effectively to create a stunning solution for the inner courtyard. Dural’s Durosol Formable Aluminium Profiles were specified along with SureSet’s resin bound paving range Spectrum®.
Dural’s Formable Aluminium Profiles offered a neat, durable egde protection for SureSet’s resin paving that were easily formed to create the windmill design. SureSet’s installation team didn’t require any special tools for the process, the profiles were simply hand laid and easily shaped. The installers then laid a total of 74m2 of 3mm Spectrum® resin bound paving. The recycled glass surface was used in three colours – Lemon Yellow, Yellow Green and Mint Green.
The resin bound paving from SureSet provides a durable, hard-wearing surface that will withstand daily use. And because SureSet develop their own range of colouring glass for the Spectrum® range, there were able to colour match the resin flooring to the internal spaces in the school.
Why use aluminium edge profiles?
Installers and designers commonly design resin bound surfacing right up to brickwork, paving, timber or other existing features of a building. Even though there is nothing wrong with this technique, a more clinical finish is now being favoured by clients where aluminium edge profiling is used to create distinctive, beautiful edges.
Dural UK supply a range of four edge profiles, including Durosol Straight Edging Profiles, Birds Beak Capping Profiles, Durabord Capping Profiles and Durondell Capping Profiles. All four ranges provide high quality edge protection to resin bound surfaces, and are available in a variety of sizes, depths and materials to suit all kinds of installations and requirements.
Project conclusion
The SureSet installation team were able to lay the Spectrum® resin bound paving as well as the aluminium edge profiles within two days, which was no mean feat considering the complexity of the design of the flooring.
Downsbrook Middle School now enjoys a beautiful inner courtyard space where pupils can play and learn. Together with the aluminium profiling, the resin bound paving is easy to maintain, durable and its UV stability means it will still look as vibrant for many years to come.
SureSet are specialists in permeable resin bound paving and have been supplying high quality resin surfacing for nearly 20 years.
For further information on Dural’s edge profiles or range of flooring accessories, contact their flooring experts and they will be happy to provide further information. High quality products are backed up by excellent, competent advice and design solutions. Contact them today by telephone on 01924 360 110, email info@dural.co.uk or refer to their website www.resinprofiles.co.uk
Further Information
SureSet – www.sureset.co.uk
