Gerflor get to grips with fitness and ProFIT28

Getting to grips with fitness isn't easy. It takes time, money and effort, together with knowing your limits and reaching for goals. Nobody wants to exercise in a dowdy, dusty old gym, so regular visits to a bright, well thought-out gym complex is a joy.

ProFIT28 is a 'new concept' fitness and wellbeing centre based at Westbourne House in Leeds. At ProFIT28 they take great pride in being unique to the fitness industry, as they offer an exceptionally high specification facility and personal support at a low membership price. This high calibre approach to fitness and member service would be coupled to their rigorous demands that the new flooring throughout the facility would have to be up to scratch. This approach in only accepting and providing the best performing products would be a perfect fit for international flooring and interiors specialist Gerflor.

William Ramsay, CEO, ProFIT28 Fitness & Wellbeing Centre commented, "We chose Gerflor and Connor Sports products because they delivered the best aesthetic impact and longer maintenance-free life, which will provide a good return on our investment".

This large project would see a mixture of Gerflor's Tarasafe^™ Ultra H20 vinyl safety flooring, together with their high performance Taraflex^® vinyl sports flooring and their highly innovative Creation CLIC LVT for the reception area. The impact areas of the centre would be fitted-out with Powerdek from Connor Sports.

William Ramsay went on to comment, "For the impact areas on the second floor and ground floor we specified Connor Sports Powerdek fleck rubber". Gerflor (who acquired Connor Sports in 2014) would be able to offer a wider range of colours with the level of quality they would need to match the facilities high standards. William Ramsay further commented, "simply put, you can't have wallpaper, granite and oil paintings in toilets and standard rubber in the training areas. It's all about quality". He went on to add, "The finish of the flooring was smooth and not like any other product we could find on the market".

The first floor fitness studio would see 80m2 of Gerflor's Taraflex^® Sport M Evolution in 'oak' being specified. This would provide the performance, safety and overall comfort they were seeking for their members.

Taraflex^® has been used in a host of major sporting events since 1976 and is available in 17 colours and three wood-effect designs. The Sport M Evolution product offers a P1 category shock absorbency 25% to 35% and meets the EN 14904 Standard for indoor sports surfaces. The range offers greater than 45% force reduction, making it unrivalled in the marketplace in terms of offering comfort for users. Taraflex^® also meets the EN Standard of 22196 for anti- bacterial activity (E. coli - S. aureus - MRSA) (3) returning >99% levels of growth inhibition. The product is also treated with Protecsol^®, which renders polish redundant and is triple action meaning no polish is ever required, contributing to easy maintenance. Taraflex^® has a double density foam backing and as another bonus, it's environmentally friendly.

William Ramsay went on to further add, "Taraflex^® provided us with a floor covering that offered great impact resistance without losing height of the room. We have had several comments from fitness class instructors saying it's one of the best floors they have ever taught on". For the Reception ProFIT28 specified 100m2 of Gerflors highly innovative Red Dot award-winning Creation 70 LVT flooring. William Ramsay also added, "the quality and finish of this product matched the overall high standards achieved in the facility".

The sophisticated Creation 70 range offers a brand new palette of realistic wood and mineral finishes in tile and plank formats with beveled edges. In addition to this, the looselay Clic System's unique vertical interlocking format allows this product to be laid quickly over most existing surfaces. The first floor changing rooms at ProFIT28 would need a flooring that was both safe in the dry and wet environments. William Ramsay and his team opted for 60m2 of Gerflor's Tarasafe^™ Ultra H20 in 'iceberg'. The ProFIT28 CEO went on to comment, "Tarasafe^™ Ultra H20 stood out from all the other products on the market, as it provided a non-slip surface in the dry and the wet, with and without footwear". Intended for traditional barefoot spaces where there are continuous wet areas, Tarasafe^™ Ultra H20 also offers a shod solution. It is very competitively priced and is rated Grade C in the barefoot ramp test – the best possible – and >36 in the wet pendulum test. It also scored R11 in the slip resistance wet shod test.

William Ramsay ended by saying, "although the Gerflor flooring ProFIT28 selected could be considered as a special project, the installation was carried out by our general flooring contractor who received fantastic support from Gerflor. The most difficult part of the process was deciding on the colour, texture, range and having the vision to work outside the norm to inject colour and quality into our facility. We selected Gerflor flooring for their range, service and quality of the products and would certainly specify them 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.