Finland (Espoo) | Education | nora® nTx, norament® 926 satura

The School as a Place of Well-Being: Meritori Primary School

Pupils who learn in a pleasant atmosphere are more creative and productive. For the youngest children in particular, a friendly, inviting ambience is crucial when the serious side of life begins with the start of school. This step can be facilitated by a harmonious interior concept that makes the school not only a place of learning, but also a space of living. These considerations were at the forefront of the renovation of the Meritori Elementary School, located in southern Finland. In addition to the furnishings, the wall and floor design played an important role in creating an attractive ambience. “A colleague of mine had just completed the renovation of another school project where nora rubber floor coverings were used. Because of my colleague’s positive experience with nora materials and because our project also involved a school, I decided with the interior designer in charge to get to know this material better”, explained architect Leila Arosarka. “We were quickly convinced by the rubber floors – they are robust, visually attractive, support good room acoustics and are easy to clean”, Arosarka continues. Another decisive factor was the possibility of a quick and safe installation with nora nTx.
...read more

Easy to install

“In terms of design, we opted for 3.5 mm norament 926 satura nTx tiles in beige. A few small inlays in various shades of blue set chic accents”, explained interior designer Ulla Uitto. Additionally, nora stairtreads were to give the corridors and classrooms the same harmonious appearance as the stairway. “As far as the type of installation was concerned, we decided on nora nTx, as this ensured that there would be no undesired interactions with the subfloor and that the installation would be completed more quickly than usual”, said Arosarka. This is how installation with nora nTx works: a rubber-based adhesive is applied to the underside of the nora floor coverings and covered with a protective film, which is removed before installation. On site, the first task is to sand the old substrate, vacuum and prime it. After that, you simply cut the new floor covering to size, remove the protective film, align it, smooth it out, roll it and you’re done. The floor is immediately ready for use.

Inlays as a decorative design element

Meritori Primary School has a mathematics and science focus, which needed to be reflected in the interior design. “With the rubber floors, we had the opportunity to create geometric inlays that precisely matched the interior design plans and reflected the spirit of the school,” Uitto explained. Whether complex logos, fonts or characters, the intricate rubber inlays are produced in the factory’s own inlay centre on state-of-the-art cutting machines. Everything is made to order with millimetre precision. An individual installation plan is supplied so that the installation can be carried out quickly and easily.

Outstanding functional properties

It was not just the visual characteristics that won over the people involved in the planning; the functional features of the nora rubber floorings played a major role too. “We already knew from our airport in Helsinki-Vantaa that nora floors are extremely durable and still look good even after a long period of heavy use”, said Arosarka. “Another, important criterion for us was the fact that norament 926 satura nTx is classified as fire toxicologically safe according to DIN 53436.” This means that, in the unlikely event of a fire, the floor does not develop acutely toxic fumes.

In addition, nora rubber floorings are an excellent choice for interiors where floors require easy maintenance. “The hammerblow surface of norament 926 satura nTx is easy to clean, which was also confirmed to us by the maintenance experts”, the architect added. If minor surface damage does occur, the norament tiles can easily be repaired or replaced on site. Also, no coating is needed and the floor retains its good look for many years. This makes it both ecologically and economically beneficial. Finally, norament 926 satura nTx, like all flooring products sold by Interface – including carpets, LVT, rubber sheets and tiles – are certified carbon neutral through the Carbon Neutral Floors™ programme, at no extra cost to customers. nora’s own rubber plant in Weinheim, southern Germany, is continuously working to eliminate or reduce CO₂ emissions and thus further reduce its own CO₂ footprint. Unavoidable CO₂ emissions are compensated by the acquisition of emission-reduction certificates that are used to finance climate protection projects.

“Now that the project is complete, we as designers are very happy with our choice of flooring material”, Arosarka and Uitto both concluded.

Data and facts

Building Meritori Primari School, Espoo, Finland
Installation Year 2020
Photographer Jukka-Pekka Juvonen
Products norament® 926 satura nTx plus inlays, 1,825 m²

Products

nora® nTx

nora® nTx is a new and unique technology for professional installers to lay nora® rubber flooring systems.

norament® 926 satura

Rubber flooring for extremely heavy traffic areas with tone-in-tone granular design and classic hammerblow surface or elegant, slightly textured two-tone surface.

More references

Karamzin School: Pleasant indoor air with nora rubber floorings

Finland (Espoo)
nora® nTx, norament® 926 arago, noraplan® lona | Education

As the older part of Karamzin School had been struggling with indoor air problems for some time, it underwent an extensive renovation and was recommissioned in August 2019 with low-emission rubber floorings from nora.

Innovative Learning Environments in Finland's Schools

Finland (Parola/ Urjala / Lahti)
noraplan® lona, noraplan® sentica, noraplan® uni, noraplan® sentica acoustic, noraplan® ultra grip, noraplan® ultra grip | Education

The Finnish education system is regarded around the world as one of the best. The spaces in which learning and teaching take place are planned, constructed and fitted out with great care. Thus, the school building itself becomes a valuable component in putting together a successful education policy.

Classroom block Schubart-Gymnasium: Holistic sustainability enhances school

Germany (Aalen)
norament® 926 satura, Stairtread norament® 926 satura | Education

Urban design meets sustainability – this concept is not only evident in the learning and teaching that takes place at the Schubart Gymnasium school in Aalen. Designed by Liebel/Architekten BDA and opened in 2019, the new construction of the zero-energy classroom block has received ‘Climate Positive’ certification from DGNB and the German Design Award 2021 and has also been nominated for several architectural awards.

How to contact us
Flooring Finder
Room Designer
Find nora on LinkedIn