Gerflor and Gradus wow visitors and staff with stunning install at Sutton Civic Centre

The London Borough of Sutton Council wanted to breathe new life into a number of communal areas in their large municipal office building. For this iconic refurbishment, they turned to international flooring and interiors specialist Gerflor to provide an array of spectacular world class flooring that would deliver outstanding durability and incredible eye-catching designs that were in keeping with the required vision of the interiors finish. Gerflor supplied over 2500m2 of Creation LVT and Gradus Lunar Carpet tiles for this major renovation and worked closely with the client and supply chain to manage this transformation, so that the project was on time and to budget.

The Sutton Civic Offices is a community facility and is also the headquarters of the London Borough of Sutton. The current civic offices were commissioned to replace the old municipal offices. The building, which was designed by the Assistant Borough Architect, Charles Sierakowski in the modernist style, was completed in phases between 1972 and 1975. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage onto St Nicholas Way with a canopied glass entrance to the civic offices and to the public library on the left, and a canopied glass entrance to the college on the right: there were continuous rows of glazing with brickwork above and below on the first, second and third floors throughout the complex. In the absence of a purpose-built council chamber, a multi-purpose area within the public library known as the "Europa Gallery" was designated as available for use by the borough council for their meetings.

Commenting on the Sutton Civic Centre project Paul Sceats, Specification Sales Manager at Gerflor commented, “The project came about through our regular and ongoing contact with the London Borough of Sutton, as we have been gradually refurbishing the general offices within the Civic Centre over the past two to three years using Gradus Latour2 Carpet Tiles. We are also about to start refurbishing the next three levels very soon with another two thousand m2 of both Gerflor products.”

Paul Sceats went on to add, “I met with the client to review the specification and project brief and he explained that he wanted to do something a bit unique for the busy reception area and of course choosing Gerflor for its flooring refurbishment would tick that box perfectly.”

On product specification, Paul Sceats further said, “At the time the Gradus Lunar collection had recently been launched, it would be an ideal product to consider as the natural and neutral tones would blend extremely well alongside the authentic wood-effect planks of Gerflor’s Creation 70 LVT. The client Rob McNaught used these finishes to very cleverly “sculpt” a walkway through the main carpeted area of the reception. To one side, he also created a small kids play area with a “pencil” effect on the walls.”

In supplying a superior interiors finish, the Gerflor floorings for this distinguished project would need to be installed by a company who could deliver on both timescale and quality of service.

South-East London- based Specialised Flooring (Bromley) Limited supply and install quality carpets and flooring. With over 30 years’ experience, they provide a quality and reliable service tailored to their customer’s requirements. They cater for both commercial and domestic installations throughout London and Kent, supplying and installing all types of floor coverings.

Commenting on the Sutton Civic Centre refurbishment, Ian Hook, Company Director at Specialised Flooring said, “We install all the flooring work for RT Services who were the main contractors on the project. We had seven days on site with two fitters and a labourer.”

On the installation itself Ian Hook went on to comment, “The Gerflor products which we installed in the communal areas, walkways, offices and the reception area were very easy to work with and lay.”

Ian Hook ended by saying, “Our client is extremely delighted with the finished result. Specifying Gerflor products, is for us, a natural choice as they offer a vast range of flooring in a fantastic array of contemporary colours and designs, which are suitable for many demanding applications.”

Paul Sceats concluded, “This was an outstanding project to work on. The selection of specified Gerflor products has really met and surpassed the specification set by the client. The communal areas now look really eye-catching and are a big hit with the visitors and staff.”

The Gerflor teams have always considered customers and the environment as their absolute priorities. Their floor coverings, wall solutions and finishing components are user friendly, healthy, fit for purpose solutions. They are designed with respect for the planet to last as long as possible with proposed end-of-life options. From product design through end-of-life, the circular economy is a core priority for the group.

Gerflor are ready and on hand to assist customers with specifications, provide technical advice and free site surveys for both new build and refurbishment projects. In addition to this, the core collections in Creation LVT and Lunar Carpets Tiles are stocked and readily available in the UK for fast delivery when time is of the essence.

Learn more about Gerflor solutions, ask for a free sample or contact us to speak to a specialist today by calling 01625 428 922, emailing contractuk@gerflor.com, or visiting gerflor.co.uk for the latest innovations.