Kent University’s new court has star appeal
The UK’s University of Kent can now practice and play on one of the world’s finest basketball courts after learning a lesson from stars of America’s hugely popular NBA.

Kent is the first UK university to have an MFMA PUR-certified and EN14904-compliant Robbins Sports Surfaces solid maple wood floor, installed by its UK-based partner TVS Group. Robbins Sports Surfaces, which was founded in 1894, is well known across North America. It is a preferred supplier of competition and training surfaces to a significant number of leading teams in the billion-dollar National Basketball Association (NBA). Of the last 27 NBA Championships contested, 22 were won by teams who play and/or train on Robbins Sports Surfaces courts. 

The TVS Group/Robbins partnership was chosen after an exhaustive evaluation by the University of Kent with quality, longevity and performance being major factors in the final decision along with the need to meet stringent international and UK sports standards. The new Robbins court in Canterbury is expected to last between 50-75 years! The long-term benefits also include the active reduction of injuries and player fatigue through the Robbins maximum vibration protection (MVP) patented system.

“After around two decades of use as a multi-sport facility, the university’s old court was badly in need of an upgrade,” explained TVS’ Sports Surfacing Specialist Jason Lewis-Lamb. “A survey revealed significant issues with the sub-floor which had caused failures in the existing floor and needed to be rectified.”

The installation process
Before installation work could commence TVS Group had to remove the well-worn sprung parquet timber floor which was showing significant cracking and movement. What they found beneath was an unstable and uneven substructure which needed to be repaired and levelled with a new concrete screed. The new base was left for several weeks to dry out completely before being retested. To ensure that the new maple wood floor would not be subject to any future damp issues, a moisture-proof membrane was laid on top of the screed.

By now, timber for the project had already arrived from Robbins Sports Surfaces in the United States and had been left to acclimatise to the site conditions. The American company only selects its maple from sustainable sources and during manufacture aims to maximise the use of raw materials to reduce impact on the environment. The US grows six times more hardwoods than are harvested each year. In the next stage, base panels were laid out, leaving room for expansion both between the panels and around the perimeter edges, before being mechanically fixed to the subfloor. To these panels TVS added 9mm hardwood plywood installed at a 45-degree angle. Mechanically fixed and glued, they add strength and stability to the construction.

Finally, using a hidden nail technique, it was time for the maple boards to be installed from the centre of the court outwards to ensure that they lined up with the game lines. Once cleaned, sanded to a smooth finish, cleaned again and eventually sealed with a water-based sealant, TVS was able to apply the individual court markings. A custom graphic ̶ “University of Kent” ̶ was added before two final coats of hardwearing sports grade lacquer were applied and edge details, skirting boards and door trims provided to complete the finishing touches. The sub-structure work and the new flooring installation was completed by TVS Group within 6 working weeks.

In addition to basketball, TVS Group also ensured that specific markings were added for netball and badminton to ensure that the new court could continue to be used as a multi-sport facility.

The benefits
The MVP (Maximum Vibration Protection) floor installed at the University of Kent is not only striking to look at, it is one of the most innovative on the market, delivering levels of performance, safety and comfort which are to the very highest standards. Robbins’ MVP design optimises biomechanical interaction between athlete and floor in several significant ways. Firstly, it minimises vibration, secondly it provides uniformity of performance and thirdly it helps to reduce player fatigue and injury.

With Kent University’s new court, every dribble will feel the same, every ball will rebound and sound the same, and players can expect to get maximum and consistent support and safety from the new surface for years to come.

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Project Requirements
TVS Group were approached by the University of Glasgow sports department, as their competition sports hall, including their existing sports floor, at the Stevenson Sports Facility, was in dire need of repair. The brief from the university representatives was to turn this into an iconic venue for higher education sporting competition, with a dream of offering one of the best sporting venues in Scotland.

Solution
To accomplish this, TVS Group presented a proven and credible solution; an elite-level Robbins Bio-Channel Star timber flooring system. Robbins is the preferred sports flooring provider to the majority of globally recognised National Basketball Association (NBA) teams such as the LA Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls, and is rightly recognised worldwide for their product quality, sporting performance and most importantly their dedication to player safety. Through a committed research and design department, Robbins are pioneering the advancement in sprung timber flooring systems. Their approach is from a unique perspective of reducing involuntary muscle activation and by doing so reducing player fatigue and the associated rate of injury occurrences in athletes. They do this through a patented design of their anchored, vibration controlling, resilient flooring systems. Furthermore, the Robbins Bio-Channel Star sports flooring system was chosen with confidence by The University of Glasgow Sport, primarily because this system met with the required sports performance criteria but also due to concerns over the temperature range, airborne humidity and location of the sports hall, this was favoured.

Programme
Having decided on the most suitable system, TVS Group went about making this project happen. To start with the original sports floor, which was failing after only a few years, had to be removed. This also exposed a subfloor which required a huge amount of work. On all our sports surfacing installations, TVS Group partner with UKAS accredited, testing laboratories to perform a series of tests on all projects undertaken. This ensures all of our flooring installations are completed to the uppermost possible standards and surface and substrate regularity is suitable for the highest level of play. Once the substrate was corrected at this site the patented bio-channel continuous subfloor system was anchored to the concrete at regular spacings using a specialised fixing which allows the movement of the sprung floor but controls vibrations. Furthermore, non-standard northern hard maple floorboards were custom produced specifically for this project, and then installed over the sub-layers. This level of engineering and precision in the installation ensures the sports floor complies to the highest international standards such as EN14904, MFMA PUR and DIN18032-2. By using this type of continuous sub-structure we also ensure the highest level of surface uniformity across the entire playing area.

Customisation
As the brief from the University of Glasgow, was to create an iconic sporting venue, custom branding and colours were included within the design of the sports surface, ensuring all who play here know they are in the home of the Glasgow Tigers! For this level of detail, we turned to BONA and their Super Sport HD system. Using multiple layers of primer, line marking paint, HD gloss finish and pure colour block paints, we created a unique finish fit for this prestigious project. Ensuring that the facility had a wow factor, TVS Group also refurbished the entrance corridor to the sports hall using our TVS Sports Turf in graphite black and bright yellow to create a custom floor finish which included a giant logo of the Glasgow Tiger again!

To download a PDF version of this case study - please click here.