Forbo's Allura luxury vinyl tile range has been used in the visitors' centre of The Kelpies, home to the world largest equine sculptures. Architect Euan McCallum of Nicoll Russell Studios used Allura to to create a pattern which is designed to be reminiscent of the panels on the Kelpies and also have a connection with the granite colours on the external plaza area.
In early 2012, Nicoll Russell Studios won an architectural competition to design The Kelpies' visitor centre and after working closely with it's client, a design scheme was developed and agreed. Euan McCallum, Senior Associate at Nicoll Russel Studios, said: From the beginning of the project, we had a lot of discussions with the client to develop a modern, yet practical design. When it came to specifying a floor covering for the centre, we initially contemplated having an exposed concrete finish, which would reflect the industrial connotations of The Kelpies.
"However the client was concerned that the concrete may feel too hard beneath the visitors' feet and potentially be unwelcoming. As such, we contracted Forbo for it's help as we were aware of its Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) Allura range, which offers an appearance similar to polished concrete but without the associated drawbacks.
Throughout the main area of the visitor centre, Forbo's Allura stone was installed in three different colourways. They were laid in a pattern that empathised with the external paving and echoed the designs of the stainless steel cladding pannels on The Kelpies.
Euan continued "In the visitor orientation section of the centre, we decided to only install Natural concrete from the Allura stone range to create the impression of a smooth concrete floor and avoid drawing attention away from the exhibition. In the back of house areas such as the kitchens and staff rooms, we installed Forbo's Surestep Safety flooring to protect employees from unnecessary slips and trips"
Forbo's advance in STEP safety crystals embedded throughout the wayerlayer of the Surestep range, providing a fully slip resistant solution. The entire collection meets with the prevalent UK slip standards; wet pendulum test >36 and >20 surface roughness, as well as EN1385 for sustainable slip resistance.
Additionally as an effective entrance flooring system can stop up to 94% of dirt and moisture being walked into a building, Nicoll Russell Studios installed Forbo's Nuway system, with Coral anthracite inserts to help the client maintain the interior floor covering easily.
| Location | Falkirk |
| Architect | Nicoll Russell Studios |
