GOLDBACH/NORIT RAISED ACCESS FLOORS

New or refurbished office buildings require within their design to be both practical and flexible in the use of available space.

Access flooring is a crucial element that literally becomes the foundation upon which the working environment is defined as well as being the division of the under floor services void and the working area. Goldbach/Norit access floor systems satisfy all the demands of accessibility, durability and strength but with the added benefits of;

• ·FIRE RESISTANCE - class O non-combustible certified up to fire resistance class F60.
• ·RECYCLABLE - Goldbach/Norit calcium sulphate access floor panels are manufactured from recycled materials and have won several environmental awards, including the IRB seal from the Institute for Construction Biology, Rosenheim.
• ENVIRONMENTAL - award winning environmentally safe production process that utilises residual materials including the water used during manufacture.
• NOISE REDUCTION - dense panel material coupled with high compression techniques give sound absorbency ratings of up to 60dB
• CORROSION FREE - access floor systems that are without steel eliminate any possibility of corrosion and do not require separate earthing.
• DIMENSIONAL - fine tolerances of +/- 0.2mm are achieved during ACCURACY manufacture to ensure a snag free fitting system.
• PRE-BONDING - because of the dimensional accuracy of the manufacturing process and the stability of the materials, all panels can be pre-bonded with finished floor materials including carpet, woodblock, vinyl, stone etc., for a true access floor.

Pre-Bonding and the Cost of Ownership.

The excessive churn rate in modern businesses is a significant factor in the day-to-day operating costs of an office building and a conventional raised access floor covered in carpet represents a substantial proportion of these costs for re-configuring the services to meet the new layout. For some obscure reason raised access floor panels are designed to a 600mm module, yet carpet tiles are manufactured to a 500mm module!

The logic of this is that to just to access the under floor services from one floor panel means that two, three, four or more carpet tiles have to be lifted. This often means furniture items have to be moved and in addition to the carpet and flooring contractor, this may mean that the furniture, IT and electrical contractors have to attend! A logistical and cost nightmare!

If a floor service box or grommet have to be moved, this will also mean re-cutting the carpet with the resulting waste and cost.

It is also worth remembering that to minimise disruption most of these works have to be undertaken outside regular working hours and all these specialised tradesmen are on time-and-half, double or even treble hourly rates!

A simpler and cost effective solution is to pre-bond the carpet (or other floor finish) to the floor panel so both are lifted together!

Just think, to simply access the services no other contractor need attend! To re-configure the position of the services may also mean only the directly effected contractors need attend, particularly if sufficient cable tail was allowed on the initial installation!

When this concept is transferred to other more specialised areas such as a marble or wood block entrance lobby, the problem of routing the services around the material laid directly on to the sub-floor is eliminated and re-allocating the space at a later date can be completed much more quickly and at considerably less cost.

Technical Information.

A typical Goldbach/Norit access floor panel consists of Alpha-2000, cellulose fibres and binding agents, conforming to the guidelines for Building Biology and Healthy Living.

There are no other chemicals in the production of the Goldbach/Norit access floor panel.

Each panel has consistant strength and is not affected by temperature or vermin unlike wood core products. As an option or if required within a specification, a 0.5mm galvanised steel sheet can be bonded to the panel soffit to for additional strength.