At Sporthaus L&T, noraplan® unita nTx
provides a modern industrial look
Varied, innovative, and visually attractive: These are
all deciding factors for traditional retail outlets when it
comes to appealing to a wide range of buyers in the
face of online competition. Making shopping an experience
is where the future lies. Sporthaus L&T, which
opened in Osnabrück at the beginning of March
2018, is running with this concept in every respect:
Look no further than its modern, architectural shop
design and the numerous attractions and events that it
offers. The highlight is the wave pool in the basement.
With activities such as surf courses, a football cage, a
climbing wall, and a fitness studio, L&T Sport aims to
become a meeting point for sports enthusiasts of all
ages. Suitable construction material was also selected
to match this exceptional concept. When it came to
the flooring, the architects and builder decided to
go with noraplan
® unita nTx from nora systems. The
unicolored rubber flooring with real granite chips was
laid on all five floors – a total of around 6,000 square
meters. With its subtle, purist appearance, it underlines
the contemporary ambience and supports the design
concept.
Uniform design for a modern and dynamic
shopping concept
The new building was planned by the Hamburg-based
Prof. Moths Architekten. The building has a shiny silver
façade that reflects its sporty nature. The diversity of
sports is represented inside thanks to various themed
settings. “The concept is a departure from the usual
shop-in-shop design in which separate brands create
individual visual accents,” explains interior designer
Andrea Taubken, one of the project managers from
Prof. Moths Architekten. At L&T Sport, the focus is on
creating a design that is tailored to the respective sport
– the ambience is purist and modern. “With its monolithic,
restrained appearance, noraplan
® unita fits perfectly
into the overall concept.” The flooring’s colors are
special designs that were specially developed for L&T
at nora systems in Weinheim. The fact that nora
® flooring
is entirely made of rubber and can therefore be installed
seamlessly is seen as a great advantage by the
interior designer: “This creates a uniform appearance
and a calm surface effect.” In order to allow customers
to experience a smooth transition to all departments
without any optical barriers, a change of material was
deliberately avoided in the walkways.
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Diverse and relaxing shopping
Another plus: Thanks to the rubber’s material properties,
nora® coverings are permanently resilient. They provide
relief for one’s back and joints and make it easier
to walk and stand still – a factor that contributes to a
healthy work environment for the sales staff. “Our employees
often walk between five and seven kilometers
during their working hours,” explains Lutz Brinkmann,
Technical Manager at L&T. “This is much more comfortable
on the resilient rubber floor than on a hard supporting
base.” Due to its permanent elasticity, the rubber
flooring also reduces noise and thus ensures good room
acoustics and a low soundscape – even with plenty of
people around.
Quick installation technology makes for a fast move-in date
Due to the tight schedule, noraplan® was installed using
the quick installation technology of nora® nTx. With this
system, the adhesive is already applied to the back of
the rubber flooring at the factory. This can reduce the
installation time by up to 50 percent. What’s more is
that installation problems – such as bubbles, residual
indentations, or seams – are a thing of the past. Even
with higher levels of residual moisture, the self-adhesive
flooring is laid securely and cleanly in just a few steps.
“The flooring was laid directly on the 40-centimeter-thick
reinforced concrete; we could not have afforded to
wait through long setting times,” says Daniel Erfeld, an
employee at Prof. Moths Architekten. With nora® nTx,
the floor can be used immediately after installation. “Immediately
after installation, the shopfitter came and put
the furniture in,” says Erfeld.
Endurance test for the flooring
“Before deciding on a floor covering, we laid out sample
surfaces with different products and then subjected
them to various stress tests,” says Brinkmann. Thanks to its
extremely dense, non-porous surface, the tests showed
that nora® flooring was the most resistant of them all. Standing out with a special concept: With its unusual
fusion of rubber and granite, noraplan® unita nTx is the
most suitable flooring option for a sports store that’s
breaking new ground in every respect.