Choosing a school for your children’s education is never an easy task, its full of pitfalls where the
unwary and poorly-advised parent can fall into a situation where a bad choice of school can have
educational and social aftershocks for their child lasting many years. A school that can deliver both
academically and socially across the board is a welcome beacon for a plethora of hopeful parents.
Whitworth Park School and Sixth Form College in Spennymoor, just south of Durham, provides an
environment where they strive for ‘excellence for everyone’. It’s an ethos that’s based on a clear
vision and ethical values. The school previously had a new block constructed during the Building
Schools for the Future programme. The remaining part of the works required the fitting of new
floor coverings to the circulation routes of the old block that would continue to be retained. It was
in a sense, the old meeting the new and a project that would have to be completed quickly to avoid
disruption and any shut down to the education facility. The requirement for a fast track flooring
and durable solution would be well-suited to international flooring specialist Gerflor who would
supply their amazing GTI Max flooring. This would prove it’s worth in saving both time and money
for Durham County Council as there was no need for the school to close with the installation being
completed in only four days.
Philip Etherington, Senior Building Surveyor from Durham County Council Design Services said, “we
were commissioned to carry out the works by our Education Department. We initially commenced
on site on the basis that we were going to remove the existing Granwood screed and vinyl. The works
were planned in phases and during the night so that there would be no disruption to the day-to-day
operation of the school. However, following two days on site we decided to stop the works due to
the amount of dust and time it was taking to remove the existing floor”. He went on to add, “we
decided instead to install 600m2
of Gerflor’s GTI Max Carbon, a perfect solution that eliminated the
issues with dust, and it also saved us both money and time in the renovation. GTI Max allowed us to
go over the top of the existing Granwood floor finish without any subfloor preparation or having to
remove it whilst still allowing the existing floor finish to breath”.
Gerflor’s GTI Max range is ideally suited to a variety of education applications with high resistance
for extreme traffic. It also offers easy installation and maintenance for less disruption to the daily
operation of any education building. It provides one of the best PVC heavy traffic flooring solutions
in the marketplace and offers a truly fit for purpose product that delivers an easy, long-lasting
renovation resolution for specifiers and contractors alike. The GTI Max wear layer is reinforced by
specific oblong fillers that offer outstanding resistance to traffic and is reinforced with 2 glass fibre
grids on either side of an intermediate pressed homogeneous layer. GTI’s backing is a 4mm thick
black pressed homogeneous sheet and its surface is a coloured homogeneous sheet 2 mm thick. GTI
Max is 100% recyclable and is also made with up to 80% recycled content.
The GTI Max range provides a speedy renovation solution and can be installed over many different
types of existing floorcoverings with minimal subfloor preparation, no adhesives are required and
most importantly… no disruption or need to close the establishment. It comes with the polyurethane
surface treatment PUR+ for ease of maintenance and specifiers and designers can also benefit
from mixing and matching colours to create corners and walkways using its modular tile format in
23 stunning colour choices. GTI Max is also 100% REACH compliant, Floorscore® certified, free of
formaldehyde, free of heavy metals and solvents and manufactured in an ISO 14001 and ISO 50001
certified site. GTI Max delivers TVOC emissions 10 times better than norm requirements (TVOC <
100 μg/m3
after 28 days).
David Stone, Interim Headteacher at Whitworth Park School and Sixth Form College commented,
“we are incredibly pleased with the Gerflor flooring and its installation. The flooring itself was
installed without issue and it has ‘lifted’ the corridors in which we have had it fitted”. David Stone
also added, “it is bright and fresh and dampens the noise of the students when they are in those
corridors. Despite the recent appalling weather, the new floor has held up incredibly well proving
itself to not show the marks of nearly 1000 pupils walking over it with wet shoes and has also has
delivered in providing excellent slip resistance too. In addition, he added, “our cleaning staff have
informed me that it is easy to clean and maintain and marks are removed with ease”. David Stone
concluded by stating, “as a school we are very impressed and delighted with the Gerflor GTI Max
flooring aesthetics and overall performance and are happy to recommend it to other institutions”.
Philip Etherington, Senior Building Surveyor from Durham County Council Design Services ended
by saying, “the school were extremely happy with the Gerflor flooring and we will certainly use the
product 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.
