High-design and high-performance Expona Design luxury vinyl tiles from Polyflor were used to create a modern bistro at the Belong Warrington care village in Cheshire.
The £9.5m state-of-the-art Belong Warrington care village, designed by Pozzoni Architecture, is a community facility featuring village centre amenities, households for residents who require 24-hour dementia and nursing care, and independent living apartments.
Since opening, it has been visited by care home owners and designers from all over Europe as an example of excellent care home design.
The bistro on the ground floor is open to the public and provides a family-friendly environment serving food, drink and snacks.
Wood-effect Expona Design luxury vinyl tiles in Light Elm were installed in the bistro, reception area, corridors and also in the village exercise studio. This grey-toned wood design features authentic swirled-grain detail and a textured surface emboss for added realism.
Natural material effects are popular flooring choices for care environments as they are familiar and help create a homely, rather than clinical, look. The use of the same flooring design throughout the ground floor also aid residents in navigating around the building and ensures they perceive the flooring as a continuous surface.
David Pointon, business support manager at CLS Care Services, which runs the facility, said: “We’re delighted with the finished look of our bistro. With the installation of this beautiful flooring we’ve been able to create a place where our residents will enjoy spending quality time with their family and friends.
“The natural look of the flooring is familiar to our residents living with dementia, so it helps to project a relaxing and calming environment, contributing to reduced anxiety levels.“
The Expona Design luxury vinyl tile collection features 28 eye-catching wood, stone and effects design options for use in heavy commercial environments. Its 3.0mm gauge and 0.7mm wear layer means this range is ideal for high-traffic spaces such as cafés, bars and restaurants. Expona Design is further enhanced with PUR, Polyflor’s exclusive and robust polyurethane reinforcement which is cross linked and UV cured to provide superior cleaning benefits.
As a manufacturer of flooring suitable for dementia care facilities, Polyflor has recently become a member of the Dementia Action Alliance, which is committed to transforming the lives of the 800,000 people living with dementia in the UK. Polyflor is also a long-standing partner of the International Dementia Design Network at the University of Salford.
