Rubber flooring: safety and comfort for ski field facilities

Recycled EPDM rubber is arguably the best flooring solution for ski resorts. With excellent grip, give and acoustics, it stands up to hundreds of thousands of users each year.

Designed by Warren and Mahoney, the main entry and ticketing building at the Cardrona Alpine Resort greets visitors and skiers with its striking architectural profile. Also housing gear hire, it forms the start of a redesigned customer journey and spatial sequence through the site, the outcome of a five-year master planning project.

The environmental strategy included reusing existing buildings – building new only where necessary – and choosing environmentally driven materials.

Approached from the car park, a set of wide stairs and a ramp lead guests up to ticketing or rentals, or directly to the ski field via a weather-protected expressway. As it is the main threshold and portal to the base village, shedding snow, ice and mud from footwear was a major consideration for flooring design.

An exterior concrete plinth is the first surface that guests walk across before they reach a metal grate at the main doors. Snow, ice and mud are shed at each footfall as people cross the entry grate. Inside, Advance’s aluminium and carpet strip ExtraTread mat traps further moisture and dirt – 37% more than comparable systems.

For any ice and mud still clinging to boots, the interior flooring needed to provide the best slip resistance possible, stand up to the high wear and scuffing, and be easy to clean at the end of each day. Warren and Mahoney specified Neoflex™ Reco recycled EPDM rubber, both for its ability to meet these requirements and for its high recycled content.

‘Durability and slip resistance are fundamentals in this environment,’ says Warren and Mahoney principal Gareth Huston, ‘which makes rubber flooring a traditional product for ski buildings with its excellent slip resistance. It also has some give under heavy ski boots, making the comfort and acoustics of rubber a benefit. To camouflage the tracked-in mud, we selected a highly patterned product rather than plain black, so it would look tidy through the day and be easy to clean each night.’

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS

Neoflex Reco Rubber flooring is a 100% EPDM rubber flooring covering, with 75% recycled rubber content. Read more.

ExtraTread is an aluminium and carpet strip entrance mat with extra-wide, intense-wear infills offering 37% extra water absorbing capability than comparable entrance mats. Global Green Tag Certified. Read more.

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CREDITS

Project: Cardrona Alpine Resort

Architect: Warren and Mahoney

Product: Neoflex recycled rubber RL313 & ExtraTread

Photographer: Marina Mathews

Writer: Folio