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By Don Sadler
What are the latest and greatest
trends when it comes to flooring in public assemblies and facilities? To
find out, we spoke with several flooring experts to get their take on
the state of the industry.
Q: What are some design and product trends
you’re seeing when it comes to flooring in large facilities?
A: “There’s no question that there
is a move toward multiuse/ multi-purpose facilities that can be used for
different kinds of events. This trend requires the use of temporary
flooring systems that can be moved and installed where needed and
removed quickly upon completion of an event. We are also seeing a move
toward heavier-duty flooring that can sustain ever-increasing weights
and torque (from equipment moving).” — Arnon Rosan, managing partner,
Signature Fencing and Flooring Systems, LLC
 A:
“I agree. Today’s new arenas are designed to be more
versatile than arenas in the past. These facilities are so expensive to
build that designers are giving more thought to other types of uses
(beyond sporting events or concerts, for example) that facilities can
accommodate cost-effectively. Sports facilities, for example, often sit
empty during off-seasons, so making them multi-use helps them generate
more revenue during this downtime.
“Temporary and portable flooring is playing a big part in this, enabling
facilities to bring in different types of clients (other than sports
teams or concerts). We recently used temporary flooring to transform the
Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., into a dinner theater for 3,200
people for a large event for Best Buy.” — Ted Ewing, President, Skyway
Events and Services
A: “In Europe, it’s not uncommon to
create mini-stadiums surrounded by portable bleachers, convention
centers in tents, and portable seasonal ice arenas. In general, event
producers are looking for ultimate flexibility in location, size and
convenience. Portable flooring is helping move this trend forward by
turning nontraditional or older facilities into true multipurpose,
diversified facilities.” — Arnon Rosan
 A:
“Yes, the industry is clearly moving toward more multi-use facilities,
with retractable flooring and seating, and this is having a big impact
on flooring surfaces. For example, the new stadium for the NFL’s Arizona
Cardinals has a retractable grass surface. This is perhaps the ultimate
in portable flooring. There’s now a much higher premium on a facility
manager’s ability to change flooring surfaces quickly and cost
efficiently.
“My company specializes in supplemental emergency lighting in
facilities. While most aisle lighting today is still provided by
electrical lights fed by conduit that runs down either side of an aisle,
advanced technologies are being developed to improve pathfinding and
safety in dark facilities, like arenas and theaters. This includes
products like Ecoglo’s photo luminescent step edging, signage, and
handrail and pathway markers that enhance egress in public facilities in
both emergency and non-emergency situations.
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Portable flooring can protect a facility’s
grass against chairs and pedestrians, as it does at Paul Brown
Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals. Photo courtesy of Arnon
Rosan, Signature Fencing and Flooring Systems. |
“Despite all of the external threats to
high-profile public assembly buildings, ‘slip and fall’ remains the
single largest potential liability a facility has. Most public assembly
facilities
have a lot of steps — often more than large high-rise office towers —
and with steps come slips and falls. Given this, many facility managers
are looking for better options than traditional aisle and emergency
lighting — which is expensive to install and maintain and is often
redundant within 10 to 15 years of a facility’s opening — to enhance
safety in their facilities, and photo luminescent safety lighting is one
solution.” — Paul Sapsford, business development, Ecoglo
Q: When is one type of flooring better than
others in different kinds of facilities? Can you offer some examples?
A: “In all public areas of
facilities, carpet is the flooring of choice due to the comfort, noise
and slip reduction, aesthetics and durability carpet offers. Most
facility managers today are looking for ways to make guests comfortable,
and carpet aides in accomplishing this.” — Kristy Jones, manager, market
development, Tai Ping Carpets, Americas Inc.
A: “Facility managers must choose
the right type of floor to handle different kinds of traffic, such as
pedestrians, food carts, vehicles and other equipment. These floors will
differ by weight capacity, height and module size.
“For a full stadium field cover, we
generally recommend a light and easy-to-store option, like EventDeck,
since it only needs to protect the grass against chairs and pedestrians.
For backstage areas, we suggest flooring that can sustain the weight of
forklifts, staging and cranes, like DuraDeck. For ice arenas, we
recommend a heavier duty floor, like UltraDeck, which has more air
insulation and can support the weight of forklifts. Wood floor arenas,
meanwhile, can use flooring like CarpetDeck and GymDeck to convert these
areas into true event venues.” — Arnon Rosan
 Q:
What are some creative usages of flooring that you have seen in large
facilities?
A: “Creative use of flooring can
turn an ordinary sporting or concert arena into a facility for almost
anything, like the 3,200- seat dinner theater we created in the Xcel
Energy Center. “In addition, flooring (like carpet) can be used to
create pathways to help guests navigate the facility, offering greater
comfort, as well as direction. We’ve also done lots of custom color to
match team and corporate logos and trademarks, which can be incorporated
into flooring and carpeting.” — Ted Ewing
A: “We’ve used alternating floor
colors and custom colors to match team colors and to define areas and
walkways within the floor. We’ve also inserted advertising logos and
other messages into the flooring to create dramatic effects. One of the
most interesting uses for our temporary floors is to host corporate
events right in the middle of a field, creating a dramatic and exciting
event venue that’s surrounded by grass and the stadium.” — Arnon Rosan
 A:
“Some convention centers are using designs in their carpet that are
reflective of their city and local culture, which lends a story to share
with their guests about where they’re visiting and helps act as a
gateway welcoming guests to the city. Examples include convention
centers in San Antonio, Fort Lauderdale and Anaheim.
“From a functional standpoint, many centers have used custom design to
color code their entrances to different exhibit halls to help guests
with directions. Others are using design elements in their carpet as a
grid to follow in meeting rooms and as a guide for setup of tables and
chairs in ballrooms.” — Kristy Jones
A: “Advertising messages can also be
placed in the riser section of step edging. This allows step-based
advertising messages that can regularly be changed.
 “While
photo-luminescent products have been used predominantly for aisle
lighting in public assembly facilities, we see a trend toward using the
technology for emergency lighting as well. When the Melbourne Cricket
Ground in Melbourne, Australia, a 100,000-seat stadium, recently
underwent a renovation the new building was designed from the start to
incorporate Ecoglo. A translucent roof covers the seats and enables
light from the sun or the lighting towers to pass through the roof and
charge the photoluminescent step edging. This has resulted in
significant savings, since no lighting or conduit needed to be installed
in the roof of the building.” — Paul Sapsford
Q: What types of flooring tend to offer the
most comfort, especially in facilities like convention centers, where
attendees are doing a lot of walking?
A: “Soft surface textile flooring
products are the most comfortable to walk on. Most convention centers
are moving away from the institutional look and more toward a hotel
environment, thus creating an atmosphere that’s soft and enjoyable to
visit.” — Kristy Jones
A: “Carpeted interlocking floors
offer additional comfort over simple plastic flooring with no top
surface. For additional comfort, most of our flooring systems ‘float’ on
thousands of small ribs.” — Arnon Rosan
Q: Talk about the cost/benefit decisions to
be made by facility managers when it comes to choosing flooring for
their facilities.
A: “With respect to portable
flooring, the costs become insignificant relative to the increased
revenue that opening up a facility for additional events can bring. And
by protecting grass and other expensive surfaces from damage, there’s no
need to replace these floors after an event. With a life span close to
10 years with proper maintenance, portable event flooring pays for
itself many times over.” — Arnon Rosan
A: “The selection of flooring in
public facilities is critical today. The facility’s space is extremely
valuable and, when it comes to temporary flooring, setup and breakdown
must be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. For example, for
elevated flooring like we did in the Xcel Energy Center, we use the
Strata Flooring System (from Wenger Corporation) that levels every 16
feet. This lets us span over a much larger number of seats than most
other platforms, which may level every four feet, so we can cover large
areas much faster. “It’s important to invest in durable flooring that’s
versatile and sets up easily and efficiently using minimal labor, which
is a big part of any facility’s cost. Temporary flooring should also
store well — it should be designed with storage in mind, not just as an
afterthought. We suffer most of our losses due to material mishandling
during storage.” — Ted Ewing
 A:
“Replacing the painted lines traditionally used for edge demarcation on
steps within facilities with a glow-in-the-dark, strip-based photo
luminescent product is a very cost-effective solution that combines edge
demarcation, lighting and nonslip for the price of one or two coats of
paint on the steps. Because it is installed permanently, facility
managers see this solution as a way to reduce their ongoing maintenance
costs.” — Paul Sapsford
A: “Most facility managers today
want long life, ease of maintenance, comfort and aesthetics in their
choice of flooring. The correctly manufactured and specified carpet can
help them meet all of these objectives.” — Kristy Jones
Don
Sadler is a writer and editor specializing in issues of interest and
relevance to businesses and executives. |
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