Forbo’s range of Westbond carpet tiles have been installed as part of a refurbishment project at the St John, Newland Anglican Church in Kingston upon Hull, to create a floor design that is warm, welcoming and modern, but entirely sympathetic to the interior design of the listed building.
“The principle objective of this project was to transform the interior of the listed church into a flexible space that responded to the needs of modern worship, whilst still being sensitive to the neo-gothic aesthetics,” commented Jonathan Hobson from Ingleby and Hobson Ltd Architects.
“Throughout the refurbishment we removed pews and levelled out the subfloor to create a large, open floor space, which then required a floor covering that would visually complement the Victorian encaustic floor tiles retained in the chancel.”
To research possible solutions, Jonathan visited Forbo’s factory in Cortonwood with Jonathon Simpson, Contracts Manager at Hull Flooring and some members of the congregation, to view Forbo’s extensive portfolio of products and together they unanimously decided upon using Westbond carpet tiles in a palette of colours which matched the encaustic tiles: Graphite, Brick Dust and Mellow Buff.
Westbond carpet tiles are premium quality fusion bonded tiles in which the yarn is fixed directly onto the backing material, resulting in an extremely dense and luxurious product. Each tuft is individual, providing a rich velour finish with a beautiful broadloom appearance.
Jonathan Hobson continued: “The carpet tiles were installed diagonally with thin borders, which is a modern take on a very traditional form of pattern-making. This has also increased the feeling of space from the strong diagonal lines.”
Installing Forbo’s Westbond carpet tiles in a diagonal grid pattern meant that the contractor could make optimum use of the tiles to create borders, which ultimately meant that wastage on the project was significantly less.
Jonathon Simpson said: “The design criteria provided by Ingleby and Hobson Ltd was very precise and did not conform to the conventional way of installing carpet tiles; Jonathan wanted the carpet tiles to be installed from two fixed points in the church that would then run down the length of the building.
“All of the tiles were hand cut on site by our fitters Paul Cunningham and Paul Parker to produce the floor pattern required, and although the installation was a bit different and complicated - as the subfloor required some maintenance to make it even, before the tiles were installed - we still managed to complete the project successfully.”
Forbo’s Westbond carpet tiles are part of its modularity offer of planks and tiles, providing specifiers with a variety of products to mix and match, as well as peace of mind knowing that if a carpet tile is damaged, it can easily be lifted and replaced – resulting in lower maintenance costs.
Reverend Melvin Tinker, the vicar of St John’s concluded: “Forbo’s carpet tiles have played a key part in the enhancement of not only the aesthetics of St John’s, but also the practicality and comfort.
"Levelling out the uneven floor and installing Forbo’s Westbond carpet tiles has improved access for the disabled and greatly improved the comfort of the church, as we previously had pews on a bare wooden floor. The improvements to the church have created a warmer atmosphere and a more attractive and welcoming building for the congregation and visitors.”
