Bradford Academy

When Bradford Academy needed a replacement for its sports hall floor they looked for guidance from Junckers. By going to the leading sports and dance floor systems manufacturer the academy knew that they would receive the right kind of advice and guidance to help them to steer their way through the overwhelming number of sports floor systems available on the market.

Junckers worked in close partnership with the client, main contractor BAM and local Junckers’ Approved Contractor Harmony Contract Flooring to deliver the floor completed and on time. The client wanted a “sprung” floor which looked good and was easy to look after, and it needed to meet the performance standards for multi-purpose sports; EN 14904. The floor system selected meets category A4 standard, which means that the academy now has a floor which is recommended by Sport England and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (EFSA).

The site constraints required a floor system with minimum construction height and Junckers’ EliteFlex 49 system, at only 49mm high was found to be ideal. The system is made from laminated foam-backed battens and 22mm timber deck with the 4mm vinyl layer bonded and welded on top. This provides a sports floor suitable for a range of activities from general education use through to elite levels of sport, dance and the like.

Junckers was chosen as a supplier because over the many decades since it was founded the company has dedicated a significant amount of resource to developing the best “sprung” sports floor systems. This, and its “cradle to grave” technical and customer support and maintenance programmes sets it apart from other manufacturers, where the choice is often limited to a basic undercarriage system and various options for gluing a vinyl sheet to screed- an option which is no longer accepted by the ESFA as a suitable surface for sports.

In the UK, Junckers has become a byword for high quality sports and activity floor systems, and for providing the technical and customer support needed to make every new Junckers floor one that the installer and client will be proud of. As part of continuous work to develop new products and constantly improve the ability to offer customers a broader choice of floor systems, Junckers has developed a range of vinyl sports and activity floors, based upon the established success of its undercarriage systems.

One of Junckers’ main strengths is the variety of undercarriage systems it offers. Not only do these give different “sprung” performance characteristics with some suited to basketball, others for dance etc., thanks to experience and technical expertise Junckers is also able to take care of the less glamorous aspects of the installation, such as dealing with uneven sub-floors or those where there may be drying out problems. Junckers’ floors are all tested and certified to EN 14904, category A3, A4 or C3. In addition, Junckers own in-house testing and development centre assess the wider aspects of the floor’s performance such as point load bearing ability and lifespan issues such as fatigue testing.

Junckers’ new vinyl floor systems are aimed at the education sector, sports halls, leisure centres and dance and fitness centres. When it comes to installation, vinyl floor customers have the same assurances that they currently have with Junckers solid hardwood floors because there is a network of fully trained Junckers Approved Installers on hand to make sure that the floor will be fitted properly.