The Royal Automobile Club was founded in 1897 with the primary purpose of promoting the motor car and its place in society.

Today, the Club is one of the foremost private members’ clubs in the world with a diverse membership of 17,000 people, an extensive programme of events, two beautiful clubhouses, as well as first-class accommodation, dining, and sports and recreation facilities.

High end look
With a similar approach to quality and standards, the family-owned and run business Buxtons – which was founded in 1919, from a small shop in Brighton – provides high-quality flooring to a varied cross-section of commercial clients around the country.

This near centenary of excellence in high standards of service and quality has served serve the family firm well when providing the Royal Automobile Club with new sports flooring for their fitness centre.

Steve Knight, director of commercial flooring for Buxtons. commented: "We're an approved contractor for Gerflor and often become involved in many high-profile projects for the company.

"At the Royal Automobile Club in London they have a Technogym system in their fitness centre and the Gerflor relationship in terms of their Taraflex® products is a very good fit for this”.

In consultation with Dan Wise, the gym manager at the Royal Automobile Club, around 70 sq m of Taraflex® Multi-Use 6.2 in wood and black colours from international flooring and interior specialists Gerflor was specified for a host of gym areas, including their ‘stretch’, ‘rower’ and ‘functional’ zones.

Taraflex® vinyl sports flooring has been used in many international and local sporting events and is available in 17 colours and three wood-effect designs.

The Multi-Use 6.2 product offers a P1 category shock absorbency of 25-35 per cent and meets the EN 14904 Standard for indoor sports surfaces.

Taraflex® is recognised for providing durability, safety and comfort without impairing performance. The range offers greater than 45 per cent force reduction, making it unrivalled in the marketplace in terms of offering comfort for users. Taraflex® meets the EN Standard of 22196 for anti- bacterial activity (E. coli - S. aureus - MRSA) (3) returning >99 per cent levels of growth inhibition. The product is treated with Protecsol®, which renders polish redundant and is triple action, meaning no polish is ever required, it contributes to easy maintenance and is anti-friction burn.

Taraflex® has a double density foam backing and as another bonus, it’s environmentally-friendly. Gerflor offers several installation solutions for Taraflex® including the Eco-Fit System which is a fast, free-floating installation which is versatile enough to be used in various multi-specialist applications.

Seamless project
Wise says: “We needed something hard-wearing and durable but that also fitted in with the club’s high design standards.

“If the flooring is a mess and unpractical, then it affects all aspects of the member experience. The flooring needs to be the foundation to start the workout on."

He added: “Buxtons Flooring were a great company to work with. They listened to our high demands in terms of timescale and workload. The whole thing from start to finish felt seamless. The finished product looks far better than I could have ever imagined”.

Knight concludes: “We’ve specified Gerflor flooring many times before. It’s a lovely product to work with. Very easy to lay and extremely trouble-free. In fact, we specify it whenever we can”.

To learn more about Gerflor solutions, or ask for a free sample, call or email to talk to a specialist, or pay a visit to see the latest in flooring innovations.