Noise-cancelling flooring at Huddersfield Leisure Centre

Kirklees Active Leisure needed a quick, but sustainable flooring solution for Huddersfield Leisure Centre.

TVS Group resurfaced the 400sq m free weights area in seven days ahead of the busy New Year period, providing a specialist rubber compound to minimise vibration and noise throughout the building.

“Our background is in acoustic solutions. It’s a factor that’s often overlooked, but with property at a premium, many gyms are only viable because they have specialist acoustic solutions in their free weights and functional areas that minimise disruption to the rest of the building. It’s a very technical area, but gym owners certainly can’t afford to get it wrong” says Andy Roberts from TVS Group.

Boosting brand identity with inlaid graphics

Xcite Livingston in West Lothian installed Neoflex Fitness Flooring under the Queenax Frame in their new functional training studio. Having invested in the world’s largest Queenax frame with 32 workout stations, Xcite was looking for a flooring solution that would capitalise on all the multifunctional benefits that the Queenax Frame offers, while also providing a suitable surface for freestyle training outside of guided classes. Xcite Leisure Centre chose 10mm Neoflex REPtiles with inlaid number markings to highlight the 32 new exercise stations and enrich the group class experience.

Neoflex REPtiles are dual-durometer rubber tiles available from 8 to 30 mm thick, and serve as a resilient, yet comfortable surface for freestyle group training, functional areas or suspension training activities. The surface finish is made of synthetic EPDM rubber for good grip and durability.

“The floor in the functional studio at Xcite Livingston is a great example of what can be created using Neoflex REPtiles with inlaid graphics. It is possible to build detailed flooring patterns or functional marking designs in a modular, 1m x 1m rubber tile format. Since the inlaid markings are digitally cut and inlaid under exacting manufacturing conditions, the accuracy, fidelity and complexity of the designs that are possible are exceptional” says Tenika Brinkers of Rephouse Europa.

“Neoflex REPtiles allow us to fuse fitness concepts, imagery, wayfinding and visual communication together to create modular floors that reinforce a club’s brand identity in new ways”.

Re-instating damaged free weights flooring

Escape Fitness was called in to investigate and address floor damage to the free weights area at Oswestry Leisure Centre, Shropshire.

The Escape team found that the subfloor below the 20mm thick 1m x 1m tiles was broken due to repetitive drops of dumbbells and barbells. The situation was made worse by the fact that the free weights zone is on the first floor, and inadequate flooring had caused vibration and impact issues to break the structural slab and the screed.

In time, this would have become dangerous to members, and there was the possibility of structural damage to the ceiling and ground floor below. 

The team dug out the damaged areas removing three to four inches in some places over an area measuring approximately 10sq m. They specified a repair treatment for the slab and screed using products with high KN ratings. Specialist primers were used to ensure any new substrates installed adhered correctly to the existing surface, to allow proper curing of the new screed.

Escape installed a high density shock pad roll system to help absorb impact and vibration to protect the subfloor. The floor was completed by Escape's 43mm cross tile product for maximum impact absorption, which provides a strong and durable floor to protect substrate and free weights. It also offers a cushioned and absorbing surface for members, reducing fatigue and injuries.

The floor was finished with Escape's rubber anti-stumble edges, providing safe and easy access to the free weight area, even though the new floor was raised by 58mm.

PureGym Gloucester chooses DuraTRAIN fitness flooring

Puregym aims to make fitness simple, affordable and accessible. Many of its sites in shopping centres or adjacent to shops, so reducing noise is a prime concern.

A proposed PureGym site in Gloucester with shops both behind and next to the gym had to prove that any weights dropped on the gym floor would not exceed the ambient sound level in the adjacent shops.

Independent consulting firm M-EC Consulting Development Engineers was commissioned to conduct sound assessments at the site as well as on a range of rubber fitness flooring tiles from Indigo Fitness.

In the PureGym tests, the tiles were shown to significantly reduce floor impact noise being transmitted through the building structure, mitigating disturbance to adjoining occupiers. As a result, DuraTRAIN is now the preferred flooring choice for all PureGym free weights areas.

The DuraTRAIN range (32mm, 51mm and 70mm) features a locking design that allows tiles to be firmly locked into place without the need for adhesive. This design prevents expansion and contraction of the tiles, stops any separation of tiles at the seams and dissipates the energy from impacts in all direction across the entire tiled surface. Raised pedestals minimise noise and vibrations.

Design, performance and durability for Embody Fitness

Personal training business Embody Fitness engaged BLKBOX Fitness and PLAE to outfit its 10,000sq ft facility in Dubai. Located above the world’s biggest Lamborghini showroom, Embody Fitness had a strict brief for bold design, performance and durability, delivered within 12 weeks.

The fit out presented challenges from the outset. The space above the showroom was originally an office with raised access flooring, so BLKBOX developed a solution to reinforce the floor and reduce the acoustic impact on the showroom below. 

The primary lifting space features PLAE’s athletic floor, Achieve, for which BLK BOX are European distributors.

Developed in conjunction with global strength coaches, PLAE produces 18mm-thick flooring made from recycled SBR Rubber Tires and EPDM rubber granules bound with polyurethane. Achieve’s PlaeTech Foundation layer absorbs maximum shock on impact, diminishing barbell bounce and easing joint stress. This also delivers ideal energy return levels for safer training and drastically boosted performance.

The PLAE custom inlay platforms in Achieve are a key feature, energising the athlete whilst also allowing users to circulate throughout the area safely without any trip hazards.

In the premier conditioning space, the white Embody Fitness Logo is a design feature within the Black Attack Turf, with the metre hash marks available for trainers to utilise in their programming.