Floraskolan is a new school in Skellefteå, Sweden, that
was built on a former industrial site. The school opened
in autumn 2020 and provides space for around 1,000
pupils from pre-school to grade 9. nora by Interface, a
brand of the global flooring company Interface, was
involved in designing the flooring for the school’s 5,000
plus square metres. In choosing nora rubber floorings
for the interior areas of the new school, acoustics and
maintenance were important factors for the Skellefteå
municipality. “Floraskolan is a modern school with very
open spaces, which requires a modern floor with good
sound absorption”, explained project architect Anna-Sara
Fenander.
A joint decision
Before the construction of Floraskolan began, numerous
decisions needed to be made by the project team. Architect
Fenander chose the flooring carefully. She even
visited a school in Luleå that had already installed nora
rubber floor coverings before making the final decision.
She was accompanied by the future cleaning staff and
some representatives of the Skellefteå municipality’s
flooring department to experience a demonstration
of their excellent properties. “Everyone, including the
students at the school we visited, is very satisfied with
the nora rubber floor”, Fenander said. “Following our
school tour, the Skellefteå municipality was finally confident
enough to invest in the nora floor coverings, too.”
Construction was finally able to begin in early summer
2018, with the schedule of having the building completed
within two years. “Because time was tight, there was not
much room for errors during the project”, explained project
manager Johannes Lundgren. “The choice of materials
therefore played a particularly important role in ensuring
that construction could be completed on schedule.”
Carbon neutral rubber floorings
Despite the time pressure, the school was completed
on time and opened in autumn 2020. A big plus was
that Floraskolan was awarded a Miljöbyggnad Silver
certificate – an environmental certification initiative that
forms part of the Sweden Green Building Council. This
is a clear evidence that the operators of the project are
committed to environmental issues and thinking about
the people who will be using the building. nora rubber
floor coverings made a significant contribution to this
certification, as all Interface floor coverings are carbon
neutral throughout their entire product lifecycle, according
to the Carbon Neutral FloorsTM programme. nora’s
own rubber plant in Weinheim, southern Germany, is
continuously working to eliminate or reduce CO₂ emissions
and thus further reduce its own carbon footprint.
Unavoidable CO₂ emissions are compensated by the
acquisition of emission-reduction certificates that are
used to finance climate protection projects.
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Easy to maintain
nora rubber floor coverings have a very dense surface,
which makes them less susceptible to dirt and easy to
clean. Water and a neutral cleaning agent are quite
sufficient to make the floor coverings look like new again –
even after intensive use. In addition, the floors installed
in the school do not need to be coated, which eliminates
the need for regular and costly recoating. nora rubber
floors are also free of PVC and have a service life of at
least 30 to 40 years, making them an extremely sustainable
flooring option.
Floraskolan is a colourful school and it was intended
that the flooring should reflect the school’s colour concept.
“The colours used in the school’s premises are inspired
by flowers, trees and Monet’s paintings. At nora, the huge
choice of colours made it easy for us to find something
appropriate”, said Fenander. “Even custom colour
requests can be produced without difficulty. But it is not
just because of their appearance that I would always
recommend nora floor coverings. They are also very
hard-wearing, have great acoustic properties and are
easy to maintain, all of which were important factors in
our choice”, she concluded.
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