Creating a great space The importance of flooring in educational settings

Today, the finishes you choose for your learning environments goes far beyond the basic requirements of an adequately comfortable room. Studies have shown that the physical aspects of a classroom such as colour, light, texture, and air quality significantly impact a student’s learning with a potential boost of up to 16% when implemented thoughtfully. The focus and indeed health of those using the space can be improved, as well as contributing to more sustainable choices. Flooring has a key part to play to any successful education space. At Shaw Contract, we anticipate these needs by offering flooring solutions that are fit for purpose, helping to create the most effective learning environment for students and supporting staff alike.

Creating a great space

Shaw Contract carpet tiles are Cradle to Cradle certified and manufactured in the UK. Available in in a range of styles and colours, they offer a whole range of design possibilities. With the added benefit of providing wayfinding and zoning of spaces using colour, texture and pattern, carpet tiles provide the foundation for an environment that optimises engagement, supports teaching, and inspires learning.

In collaboration with lead contractors, BAM Construction, Shaw Contract carpet tiles were specified for Castle Mead Academy, a 1,200place eight form entry site for the Mead Educational Trust. Carpet tiles from Shaw’s Auxiliary collection were specified for interior spaces including the library and study rooms within the new Academy. Inspired by the transitions in nature, the Auxiliary collection features cool to warm tones that help to promote a sense of calm, making this collection ideal for creating an atmosphere for learning. Styles Feature and Complement in a mix of grey and blue shades were used to introduce a subtle interplay of colour and pattern in the spaces.

Focus-friendly environments

Occupant health and wellbeing is a critical consideration for productive learning environments. Our ability to learn suffers when we struggle to understand what is being said or there is excessive noise that breaks our concentration. Acoustics and noise disturbance significantly impact teaching and learning processes, particularly in earlier education where sound production (learning to pronounce the sounds that form language) is essential.

Shaw Contract’s ComfortWorx™ tile backing, made from postconsumer recycled plastic bottles, is designed to provide improved impact sound reduction and sound absorption over standard carpet tile and hard surfaces. It provides excellent sound insulation and underfoot comfort. After installation, there was a recorded 65% improvement in sound absorption on some styles compared with our standard TaskWorx® tiles, making ComfortWorx™ backing an option that provides for both durability and ergonomic benefits.

Healthy classrooms

Occupant comfort covers a spectrum of key aspects for healthy environments. A significant element under this umbrella is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Studies have shown that maintaining good IAQ facilitates regular brain development. The importance of meeting indoor emissions requirements and analysis of their material ingredients cannot be overlooked – particularly in educational settings, with the chief medical officer for the UK recently warning that the dirty air inside buildings may contribute to nearly as many deaths as outdoor air pollution.

With a firm commitment to material health, Shaw Contract carpet tiles meet strict European compliance for low VOC products and are all independently verified for use by European testing body Eurofins. Cradle-to-Cradle certified also means throughout the production process material health and ingredients are a core focus. Shaw Contract’s carpet tiles made in the UK, and our Nordic Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT), also available as part of our In Stock UK programme, all achieve Indoor Air Comfort Gold.

Lifecycle considerations

With an increased focus on safety and hygiene, maintenance and cleaning considerations are key for education environments.

A substantial number of scientific studies have found that chemicals, including VOCs, are emitted from cleaning and sanitising products. Yet proper vacuuming is the important process in the maintenance of carpet tiles, requiring no chemical cleaning processes.

Shaw Contract’s Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) feature our highperformance, low-maintenance ExoGuardTM finish which creates a barrier against dirt, scuffs, and stains. No polish, no buff LVT products require little lifetime maintenance, and no use of solvents and waxes, while still meeting the needs of high traffic zones such as corridors or break areas.

Moving from quiet areas to activity areas and/or wet areas you can create easy transitions that are seamless across the floor. No transition strips are needed between carpet tiles and 5mm LVT solutions. We can provide you with guidance on how to maintain your flooring and all our carpet tiles come with a 15-year guarantee.

As the saying goes, “What goes around, comes around”, that’s why Shaw is committed to partnering with our customers and providing products that can also be re-used, recycled or repurposed too at end of life. The re[TURN] Take-back scheme makes it easy to get the process started. Since 2006, almost 1 billion pounds of carpet tiling has been recycled through the scheme.

Case Study – Smeaton Building at Plymouth University

Shaw Contract’s Colour Construct carpet tile collection along with Graph tiles from Rapid Select combine to create a design feature in a recent refurbishment project at the University of Plymouth. Bringing both colour and acoustic benefits to this educational building, the installation demonstrates how colour and contrast can be used to maximum effect.

The project undertaken was to refurbish the corridors in a 1960’s engineering building on the Plymouth University Campus called the Smeaton Building. The existing floor had been installed for several years and was durable, however it provided a very cold, sterile and “echoey” feeling in this interior. The decision was to switch to a softer finish to provide a more modern and comfortable experience for students.

Shaw Contract’s visualisation team produced a range of different design layouts which were presented to stakeholders in the project. The preferred design uses a mixture of mid and dark grey tone Graph tiles, and then intersperses accent colours at random, using style Pixel Square tiles from the Colour Construct collection.

The bold Orange, Chartreuse, Aqua and Magenta colours from Colour Construct were used as a reference for matching paint colours which then were used in the doorways along the various corridors. The result is a lively way to encourage flow and zones the flooring layout and provides acoustic comfort for those moving in and around the space.

The client commented: “We selected Shaw Contract as our partner for this project as they are a UK manufacturer with a very strong sustainability message. This fitted in with our criteria for a supplier, as well as having options for attractive ranges at the right price points.”

With flooring specification underpinning some of the most important aspects of health learning environments, it is also important that these products are readily available for educational projects. In recent years, Shaw has seen a significant boost in the desire or such products and has responded with the In Stock UK programme - a simple solution for flooring contractors and building and estates managers that meets the needs of fast turnaround projects.

The In Stock UK programme provides a specially curated range of options, such as the Auxiliary carpet tile collection, as well as other products ideal for school learning environments, stocked in the UK for quick dispatch within 24 hours of an order acknowledgement for account holders.

In conclusion, Shaw Contract is the ideal partner to help you design and build a healthy and more inspiring educational environment. The importance of using the appropriate flooring in classrooms cannot be overlooked. Shaw Contract is a trusted partner in education. Our expertise comes from strong understanding of the needs of the architecture and interior design community, purchasing, facilities and maintenance departments.

For further information please visit www.shawcontract.com

Bosch Commercial and Industrial Heating Solutions for education facilities

Legionella & summer holidays

What should I do? Written by the Water Hygiene Centre

If you are a Duty Holder or formally appointed Responsible Person (Water), e.g. Head Teacher, Business Manager Maintenance Manager or similar, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that the occupants within your premises are suitably protected from water safety risks including

Legionella bacteria. When dealing with water safety issues in schools, frequent reviews and updates to your Legionella risk assessment are key to keeping water systems safe for use.

Legionella Risk in Schools

Whether assessing the risk from

Legionella bacteria or devising control measures for your school, it’s of vital importance you have a clear understanding of both inherent and operational aspects of the water system's management.

The design and installation of your water system may well have incorporated best practice approaches ensuring inherent risks are relatively low, however at an operational level, a majority of areas within any school may not be used during holiday periods.

To mitigate these risks, your planned preventative maintenance and monitoring schedule needs to include all foreseeable circumstances – particularly as little-used water outlets are those often most at risk from the development of Legionella contamination.

Good water management can reasonably focus on, but not be limited by, two main considerations:

Ensuring that there is sufficient water turnover to prevent stagnation;

Ensuring that cold water remains cold and hot water remains hot. The guidance indicates stored and cold water at the outlet must always be less than 20°C and hot water must be stored above 60°C nor less than 50°C at the outlet.

Stagnant Water

Whilst there are many other considerations for mitigating the growth of waterborne bacteria, such as Legionella, the presence of slow-moving or stagnant water at temperatures between 20-45°C can provide ideal growth conditions for such bacteria and must therefore be avoided.

At this point, it’s noteworthy to identify that waterborne bacteria such as Legionella are ‘ubiquitous’ within water systems although are often flushed to drain in wellmanaged and maintained properties.

Biofilm

When water systems provide the ideal conditions for bacterial growth this often presents an issue that requires an expensive, multi-factorial and time-intensive response and which may have only limited success. It is often very difficult if not impossible to eradicate biofilm from affected systems with lasting success.

Hsg274

As previously mentioned, systems affected by waterborne bacteria often succumb to recurring issues and therefore prevention in this regard is very much better than cure. As such, when deciding upon a suitable risk mitigation strategy for buildings subject to ‘scheduled’ intermittent or low use, such as schools, universities etc, it may be prudent to review HSG274 Part 2, Paragraph 2.50; which offers practical guidance on how to manage buildings that have been temporarily taken out of use (known as mothballing). Whilst school and university estates increasingly have ‘dual use’ facilities that help to maintain the turnover of water by keeping buildings open to service users during holiday periods, this is not always the case, as such staff must be tasked with safely managing water during this time via a suitable flushing regime.

Legionella Flushing Regime

from degradation caused by any disinfectant added.

During shorter periods of infrequent or intermittent use, microbial growth may be adequately controlled by identifying areas of infrequent use, i.e. those used less than once per week, and flushing them at least weekly (more frequently than weekly is expected in higher-risk premises). Each outlet should be flushed for long enough to ensure that the entire contents of the outlet and its associated supply pipework have been replenished with fresh water.

Alan Macklin

A suitable Legionella risk assessment will assist in determining the required control measures. It’s advised that any mothballing strategy or procedure should be a compromise between the prevention of stagnation by having a regular Legionella flushing regime, the avoidance of water wastage and the protection of the water system

For longer periods of disuse, it can be acceptable to leave a system filled with water without weekly flushing – if measures are in place to prevent unauthorised use. Draining down a system unnecessarily may leave residual moisture or pockets of water within the system, potentially created, or exacerbated by high humidity, and this may subsequently provide the potential for worsening conditions. Leaving the system filled with water and suitably maintained also helps to avoid issues associated with systems drying out, such as joint failure in sectional tanks and/ or metal pipework corrosion. That said, these systems should be thoroughly flushed, cleaned, and disinfected before their return to use. In such situations, it’s indicated to recommission these systems as though they were new following British Standards; BS EN 806, BS 8558, and BS PD 855468.