Creating healthy learning environments

Children and young adults spend most of their time indoors, either at home or in an educational facility. When choosing a floor covering, there are Important factors to take into account:

✔ Low emission & non-toxic
✔ Stain & scratch resistant
✔ Acoustic performance
✔ Low cost of ownership & long-lasting
✔ Easy to clean & maintain
✔ Anti-static
✔ Bacteriostatic and allergy friendly

Marmoleum, our linoleum brand

The natural flooring solution. Marmoleum, Forbo's linoleum brand has experience in the education segment for more than 100 years. It's the most popular flooring solution in schools, nurseries, universities and various other buildings in this segment.

✔ Naturally bacteriostatic and allergy friendly
✔ Made from natural raw materials
✔ Marmoleum is climate positive (from cradle to gate) without offsetting
✔ GECA and Red List Free certified
✔ Endless possibilities in colours & designs
✔ Stain & scratch resistant with Topshield pro surface finish
✔ Easy to clean & maintain
✔ Low cost of ownership
Discover Marmoleum floor coverings

Sphera homogeneous vinyl sheet

Homogeneous vinyl floors are very popular because of their durability, low maintenance and versatility. Homogeneous vinyl is made of one single layer that offers vibrancy and depth of colour. It is incredibly durable and stain-resistant, which makes it a great flooring choice for heavy traffic areas.

✔ SMART-top finish offers high resistance to chemicals, scratches, and stains
✔ Low in VOC and phthalate free
✔ Easy to clean (externally tested)
✔ Premium homogeneous vinyl with a Type 1 binder
✔ Best Practice PVC and Green Tag certified
Discover Sphera homogeneous floor coverings

Eternal general purpose vinyl sheet

Eternal are our most trust general purpose heterogeneous vinyl flooring with a proven track record of delivering a reliable and attractive flooring solution in Australia and around the world.

✔ Best protection against scuff and scratching with our advanced PUR Pearl finish
✔ Long life with low-cost floor care
✔ Green Tag certified & manufactured using 100% green electricity
✔ Very low VOC
✔ Phthalate-free flooring
✔ Bespoke digitally printed design option
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Step safety vinyl sheet

The sustainable slip resistant solution. In care facilities, slip resistance is of prime consideration in areas where water or spillages could affect underfoot safety. Forbo’s Step safety floors can reduce the risk of slip hazards in bathrooms and kitchens.

✔ One collection that covers all slip ratings from R10, R11, R12 and barefoot
✔ Guaranteed lifetime sustainable slip resistance
✔ Variety of designs to create a modern, yet homely aesthetic
✔ Green Tag certified & manufactured using 100% green electricity
✔ Very low VOC
✔ Phthalate-free flooring
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Flotex resilient carpet

The resilient carpet solution. Flotex is a unique textile flooring, it combines the hard-wearing & durable characteristics of a resilient floor with the quality, warmth, and comfort of a carpet. Flotex is a one of a kind floor covering with a category of its own – a resilient carpet.

✔ Built to last for extreme foot and wheeled traffic areas
✔ Impervious backing that’s fast-drying
✔ Allergy approved
✔ Green Tag certified
✔ R12/P5 slip rating when dry and when wet
✔ Sound control – up to 22 dB impact sound reduction
Discover Flotex floor coverings

Sarlon acoustic vinyl sheet

The acoustic solution. Sarlon floors has a long history of being an excellent all-round performer in acoustic performance and comfort, in combination with the best in class residual indentation, has made this product the leading acoustic solution.

✔ Excellent indentation performance
✔ XtremPUR™ innovative lacquering ensuring lasting performance
✔ Certified antibacterial activity
✔ Very low VOC
✔ Phthalate-free flooring
Discover Sarlon Acoustic floor coverings

Allura luxury vinyl tiles

The modular solution. Allura Flex LVT floors are top quality, dimensionally stable, heterogeneous planks and tiles floor coverings.

✔ Available in the most realistic wood and concrete/stone designs
✔ Special backing for improved impact sound reduction and extra comfort
✔ Low in VOC and phthalate free
✔ Green Tag certified & manufactured using 100% green electricity
Discover Allura LVT floor coverings

Improve user engagement using Augmented Reality

Using Augmented Reality accessed through web-based or device based Apps, the story of the artwork can be told to all who visit; this could be done in the local indigenous language or any other language, so that everyone can understand and share the story.

Educators and students can continue with deeper learning activities combining the stories of old with new technologies; using the floor as an additional ‘third teacher’.

Schools Spectacular

We all love a good story, a curious puzzle or an amusing game.

What if a beautiful purposeful flooring design could ‘play’ with those who walk upon it? To tell a story, or to amuse them with puzzles and games?

At this year’s School Spectacular, we will be doing just that. In the forecourt of Qudos Arena will sit a customised Forbo Flotex Digital Print floor design; STAR discovery. At 100m2, it has something for everyone

There are all sorts of ways that we want you to play on this space and to participate in our ongoing research to create flooring for a learning environment that do more than just get under your feet.

Engaging & healthy learning experience

We understand the importance of employee & student health and wellbeing. Our product portfolio is designed with these two factors in mind. A high standard of employee + students' comfort and wellbeing means optimised productivity.

How our floor coverings contribute to a healthy learning environment:

● All our floorcoverings are very low in VOC
● Made with 100% renewable electricity
● Marmoleum is CO2 neutral for the cradle to gate life cycle stages of the product.
● All our products are phthalate-free

Interior layout

The interior layout of a classroom can have a significant impact on learning and is often overlooked. A poor layout can cause disorientation and confusion, which can have a negative impact on staff and students.

- Design of walkways, differentiation of different zones and signage affects the staff and student’s ability to navigate or orient themselves within the facility, especially in large universities.

The use of different flooring types, or even signs embedded into the floorcovering for walkways, classrooms, different zones etc… within the facility, can make navigation throughout much easier for the building user.

Acoustic performance

Noise pollution is known to cause a wide array of physical and behavioural symptoms that can negatively impact staff and students. A Study showed students have difficulty understanding nearly 30 percent of classroom speech due to excessive noise and sound reverberation.

Metrics and design considerations commonly used to assess acoustic conditions include:
● Background noise
● Privacy and speech interference

Designers can create improved acoustic conditions for retail environments by using building materials that are designed to create acoustic barriers.

Choosing the type of floor carefully will help to create the right level of acoustic you want to reach.

Indoor air quality

CSRIO estimates the cost of poor indoor air quality in Australia may be as high as 12 billion per year. Science Advisory Board has consistently ranked indoor air pollution among the top five environmental risks to public health.

Numerous experiments carried out demonstrates that learning environments with lower air quality can have a negative effect on children's health and academic performance.

What is indoor air quality? IAQ is defined by the concentrations of various pollutants such as:
● Pollutant concentration
● CO2 concentration
● Mould
● Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
● Dust

Better indoor air quality can be achieved through low or zero VOC furnishing materials such as floors, adhesives used and cleaning products.

Do you need more information?

Interested in our products, want to know more about installation, need to get hold of technical data sheets?

Or maybe you want to contact our National Education Segment Manager Andrew Ford who is a phD candidate conducting research on learning environment design.

Andrew welcomes any discussion on different possibilities of design to improve user engagement within all learning spaces.

Please contact Andrew to request a presentation or more information by clicking on one of the links below!

ASSOCIATION FOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Forbo is a proud supporter of Learning Environments Australasia (formerly CEFPI Australasia) is a community of over 900 professionals sharing best practice on the design, planning, building and use of innovative learning environments.

The diversity of our professional membership is the key to our success. No community can build a school in isolation or without the participative work of all stakeholders.

Transformance 2019

At the A4LE conference in Perth in 2019, Forbo Floorcoverings presented a new range of Marmoleum to designers and educators as well as presenting the case for culturally sensitive design to improve user engagement

Marmoleum is one of the healthiest commercial quality resilient flooring in the world with up to 97% natural material content, (no plastics) readily sustainable, lasting 25 years and beyond within heavy-use commercial applications. As well, it is the only CO2 neutral material not requiring offsetting (cradle to gate).

IMPROVE USER ENGAGEMENT USING AUGMENTED REALITY

Using Augmented Reality accessed through web-based or device based Apps, the story of the artwork can be told to all who visit; this could be done in the local indigenous language or any other language, so that everyone can understand and share the story.

Educators and students can continue with deeper learning activities combining the stories of old with new technologies; using the floor as an additional ‘third teacher’.