The design of educational spaces should enrich and support the learning process. When looking specifically at flooring choices, the product needs to be able to withstand the wear and tear of daily use and support good acoustics whilst also being cost-effective and achieving the desired aesthetic.
There is a range of flooring solutions that fit the bill such as linoleum, carpet tiles, vinyl tiles and engineered timber.
For common areas in educational settings such as hallways and classrooms, Forbo Flooring Systems’ Marketing and Sustainability Manager David Blakemore recommends linoleum.
“Linoleum is one of the most sustainable and high-performing flooring solutions for the education sector. It is made from natural raw materials and has been used in learning spaces for more than 100 years and right across the world,” Blakemore says.
Forbo Flooring System’s linoleum brand Marmoleum, is produced as CO₂ neutral, easy to clean and maintain, is durable, has good appearance retention and a long warranty. If the customer selects a Topshield Pro surface finish as well, this ensures the floors are stain and scratch resistant. Marmoleum comes in over 300 different colours and is available in sheet, tile, and plank formats. Forbo also offers an Aquajet water cutting service that enables the reproduction of the most intricate designs.
Marmoleum was selected by Deicke Richards Architects for the extension of John Paul College Kindergarten in Daisy Hill, Queensland. The kindy’s program is strongly art and nature based.
Marmoleum flooring was chosen as the main internal floor finish as it fitted the design and teaching philosophy. For this project in particular the sustainability and health benefits of Marmoleum appealed given it contains zero plastics and is asthma and allergy approved by the British Allergy Foundation.
Its linseed base also makes it inherently bacteriostatic, naturally inhibiting the growth of common bacterial and viral infections creating a better interior for children and staff. The earthy aesthetic was continued throughout by selecting Rust, Sahara and Barley colours from the Marmoleum Real range.
Forbo’s other top pick for flooring in the education setting is Flotex, a textile floor covering that combines the hard-wearing and durable characteristics of a resilient floor with the quality, warmth, and comfort of a carpet. Flotex is a strong and hygienic floor, that won’t track or pack down and will retain its appearance year after year of intensive use. It can come in sheet, tile, or plank formats.
When St Joseph's Primary School in Taree, NSW refurbished their existing library to provide a multipurpose space with learning support and a breakout area Forbo's Flotex was used as the main flooring finish. They selected a combination of colours and unique curved shapes to spark curiosity and inspire thoughts and movements amongst the students.
Flotex is an asthma and allergy-friendly certified flooring with an impervious washable backing for extra hygiene. Additionally, Flotex has an acoustic backing with 22dB sound reduction to ensure students can concentrate and avoid distractions. Flotex has good wear resistance and cleanability, making it the ideal flooring solution for learning spaces.
Another flooring material to consider in the education space is engineered timber which is more stable than traditional solid timber planks meaning it is less susceptible to cupping, bowing, and warping.
Timber flooring company Havwoods recommends its International engineered timber flooring range for the education sector because the boards are finished with one of two hard-wearing finishes: lacquer or oil. The lacquered option forms a protective coating covering the pores of the wood, creating a resilient harder surface, and protecting it from dirt and moisture ingress. The other protective finish used on Havwoods products is a UV cured oiled finish. This is designed to penetrate the wood providing protection for the floor. The UV drying process makes it a harder wearing finish to regular natural oiled products.
The Italian Collection of engineered floors by Havwoods has been popular in educational projects. The planks come in patterns including chevron, herringbone, and plank in a range of tones.
The Italian Collection was the flooring of choice during a multi-million-dollar expansion of Stella Maris College in Manly, NSW. Fulton Trotter Architects were engaged to deliver on a master plan for the growing college, including the new three-level science facility.
It was an inspiring and colourful modern addition that complemented the original school heritage-listed buildings and chapel, which was built in 1888.
Havwood’s floors were chosen, as a purpose-fit hard-wearing solution appropriate for high traffic. The engineered timber not only delivered a resilient solution but also brought a natural and warm feel to the space. The combination of various floor finishes provided a way to define areas without always having to use physical walls. This helped deliver learning spaces without the traditional barriers between teachers and students, encouraging collaboration.
Another popular and cost-effective flooring solution for educational environments is carpet and vinyl tiles. Commercial flooring specialist Interface recommends carpet tiles for their sound absorption for classrooms, underfoot comfort for corridors and under-bum comfort for kids. Interface carpet tiles are designed with biophilic principles allowing for random organic designs which naturally hide dirt and soiling. Carpet tiles are also easy to maintain and less wasteful than broadloom products as each tile can be easily repaired or replaced on demand.
Interface also recommends LVTs (Luxury Vinyl Tiles) for education environments. From their Ceramor+ ceramic bead topcoat to their Sound Choice acoustic backing, Interface has designed the LVT to provide peak performance in even the most challenging environments with stain and abrasion resistance and sound absorption.
Interface’s LVT was chosen for the expansion of A.B. Paterson College, a private school-based Gold Coast, Queensland. Burling Brown Architects helmed the project which saw the expansion of school’s main facility, the Winton Centre. Spanning over 4,500sqm across three levels, the Winton Centre houses multi-functional spaces catering to early learning years and K-12 students as well as teachers and parents.
The dedicated early learning area is packed with fun colours and structures for curious young minds to play on and climb. This area required openness, allowing the indoors to meet the outdoors for direct access to play so the floors needed to be robust. The project team chose Interface LVT for its ability to resist scratching and scuffing in the most challenging environments.
“Interface’s LVT was chosen for its soft, natural timber appearance, [which was a good fit for] a space that demands robust finishing and a balance of textures and patterns,” Andrew Brewer, Architect and Associate Director at Burling Brown says.
LVT was also specified for its best-in-class performance in reducing impact sound and floor-to-floor sound transmission to reduce disruptions and distractions.
Designers have noticed an increased demand for fluid and open plan learning spaces, making attention to acoustics more important than ever before.
“Flexible education spaces must now accommodate both focused study as well as areas for collaboration, teaching, and even relaxation; each of which calls for an appropriate soundscape,” Acoufelt’s Product and Marketing Director Karina Deboar says.
Karina recommends Acoufelt’s QuietBack range of carpet tiles which have been specially designed to absorb excess sound, reduce reverberation, and support a more pleasant acoustic environment across classrooms, corridors, libraries and other communal education spaces.
Within its QuietBack portfolio, Acoufelt offers collections across a broad range of designs, colourways, thicknesses and tile formats, including both plank and square, to suit a variety of acoustic and aesthetic needs. Designers can select and mix and match from over 100 colourways across both base and highlight tones, creating unique feature floor patterns. QuietBack carpet tiles have been installed across hundreds of Australian schools to date, with popular collections including ‘Flinders’, ‘Elemental’, ‘Escape’ and ‘Canyon’.
When it came to upgrading and updating facilities at Westmount School in New Zealand principal Jim Seumanu wanted more flexible, open learning spaces but was worried about acoustics.
“If your students can’t hear you, how are they supposed to learn?” he asks.
Architectural firm Unispace chose Acoufelt’s QuietBack carpet tiles to help ensure good acoustics. Unispace specified the Flinders QuietBack Collection in a custom-size plank format. The plank format allowed the carpet to be installed in an engaging pattern, using a blend of solid tones in breakout areas to enhance the aesthetic of the space. The flooring is not only functional and visually stimulating but the installation mitigated the acoustics problem, with the tiles achieving an NRC rating of 0.35.
Acoustic performance in education spaces is also the focus of flooring solutions specialist GH Commercial whose commercial carpets and tiles can cover all areas of education design.
“We offer features like acoustic performance, comfort, low VOCs and safety underfoot as well as incorporating biophilic elements that tap into our innate desire to see patterns and to connect to nature,” GH Commercial National Commercial Sales Manager Joel Williamson says.
He said designers can mix and match different flooring types and colours to create designated zones, direct the flow of foot traffic, or incorporate school branding while having the peace of mind that their products are Declare Red List Free and Australian-made.
Williamson says GH Commercial’s carpet tiles are a clear winner for the education sector.
“Based on recent NRC testing, standard GH Commercial carpet tiles can absorb exceptional amounts of ambient noise generated from busy environments. By adding a layer of cushion backing to your carpet tiles, classroom noise can be absorbed ever further,” he said.
Joel added that colour was also an important consideration in education as it is used to provide inspiration and define spaces.
“Our Pattern Perfect carpet tiles offer the ultimate design freedom with enhanced colour and texture along with some of the latest concepts in biophilic design,” he says.
“The goal is to provide you with the opportunity to create large-scale designs for educational spaces with intricate details to blend patterns across different configurations”.
When the team at New Zealand commercial interior design business, Outline needed to deck out the learning space at Saint Kentigern private school in Auckland they turned to GH Commercial for flooring solutions.
The brief for the newly built seniors building was based on the sustainability and wellbeing benefits of biophilic design.
Outline chose GH Commercial’s The Lichen 1.5 Collection of carpet planks. The Linchen 1.5 collection is inspired by multi-hued, multi-textured lichens. These carpet planks were paired with a selection of Micro and Macro Bloom 1.5 in 941 Goldspeck, 956 Iceland Moss, 963 Firedot and 937 Frosted Shield offering a distinctive pattern with pops of green, yellow, red, and white. Teamed with neutral Groundcover 1.5 in 949 Rock face, the overall effect was cohesive whilst also creating way-finding paths and distinguishing separate learning zones.
When it comes to finding the right flooring solution in education environments there is much to consider. The product needs to be highly resilient, affordable, encourage good acoustics and offer an aesthetic that contributes to a positive learning environment.
Image: Forbo Flooring System’s linoleum brand Marmoleum @RMIT
Suppliers
Forbo Flooring Systems
Havwoods
Interface
Acoufelt
GH Commercial
