£17 m factory to produce new ‘vinyl collection’

Forbo Flooring Systems, a global player in high quality floorcoverings, has recently brought on stream a new £17 m factory at Coevorden in the Netherlands, where it will manufacture a new a premium homogeneous vinyl collection, Sphera, which – with a high resistance to chemicals, scratches and stains – ‘will be ideally suited to healthcare applications’. Here Garry Bateman, head of Technical Sales and Support, discusses how the optimal flooring can create a healthy, hygienic, and comfortable patient recovery environment, and explains how three processes ‘unique to Forbo’ used in the production of the new Sphera system give it its sophisticated design, ‘best-in-class’ dimensional stability, and ‘perfectly in gauge’ composition.

Creating the right interior designs for healthcare environments can make a fundamental difference to the patients, staff, and visitors, that use the building. It has been well-documented that stress, depression, and anxiety, can also all have a negative physical effect on health; and much work is now being done by hospitals to move away from the noisy, institutionalised environments of old, which can seriously impact a patient’s wellbeing.

Designers are stepping away from stereotypical, clinical healthcare designs, which do little to inspire recovery and promote a positive image of care, and are opting instead for warmer, more inviting, and comfortable interiors that almost have a ‘home from home’ feel. This is not, however, an easy task, as furniture and interiors must stand up to the rigorous standards of hygiene, safety, and easy maintenance that hospitals demand.