Wanneroo Sports Centre

Wanneroo Secondary College, located in Perth Western Australia’s northern suburbs, has harnessed the multifaceted benefits of Tarkett vinyl flooring for its new sports center. Constructed in July 2020, the sports center received approximately 900 square meters of Tarkett Omnisports Active 7.1 flooring.

Tarkett Omnisports Active 7.1 is a premium multi-purpose sports vinyl with exceptional shock-absorbency and cushioning, yet remains resistant to indentation – making it also suitable for non-sporting uses such as school assemblies, exams and performances. Tarkett Omnisports Active 7.1 is a Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA) certified high performance multiuse sports flooring, offering comfort and shock absorption, friction performance, and Tarkett’s high standard of durability and health and hygiene properties. It can be specified in a range of 24 designs and colors including six different highly realistic timber-look finishes. The latter was especially appealing to project architect Herarn Perera of education specialists DWA Architects, who was commissioned to design the sports center.

Mr Perera considered a sprung timber floor for the Wanneroo Sports Centre, until he spoke with Tarkett Western Australia state manager, Simona O’Kane, who introduced him to an installation of Tarkett Omnisports timber-look flooring at the close-by Woodvale Secondary College, built over 10 years prior. “The school was happy to show DWA Architects how well their Omnisports floor had held up over such a long time,” said Ms O’Kane. “Woodvale’s floor still looks fabulous, quite similar to when it was new, which is testament to its durability.”

“Health and hygiene is important to consider with all flooring, but especially so in sports halls where air intake in is increased and surfaces contaminated with sweat mixing in with dirt ingress. “Durability, particularly in multiuse applications, is crucial for sports floors, which see some of the highest demand from foot-traffic, as well as the added potential of furniture damage. The latter is where a high resistance to indentation is important, ensuring the flooring can withstand chairs and tables when used for non-sporting events.” DWA’s Mr Perera said Omnisports’ ongoing performance and maintenance attributes were major considerations during the specification process. “Those are important cost considerations over a product’s lifespan so all that information was passed on to the Department of Education and they were happy with the product’s durability, cleaning and maintenance requirements.