With a disabled relative coming to live with them, the Riley family needed to make their home safe and accessible, whilst avoiding a clinical feel. An area of real concern was the bathroom floor, which needed to be safe for all the family to use, as well as for the carers who would be coming into the home.
When the Rileys contacted their local authority to find out about Disabled Facilities Grants for adaptations, they were advised that studded safety flooring (suitable for bare feet use in wet areas) would need to be used in the bathroom to meet safety standards. Mrs Riley had struggled to clean studded safety flooring within her mother's previous Housing Association accommodation, so she knew she didn't want it in her home. However, a relative working for Altro Floors knew that a brand new product, Altro Aquarius, was about to launch, which would meet the family's needs perfectly - as long as the local authority would agree to specify it.
Altro Aquarius is an evolution in safety flooring with guaranteed performance in wet or dry conditions for combined shoe and barefoot use – including hard soled, rubber and training shoes. With Altro Easyclean Maxis PUR Technology, Altro Aquarius offers significant savings on cleaning and maintenance over its life cycle compared to non PUR-treated safety flooring, and is available in a range of warm, homely chipped and non-chipped colours, making it a perfect solution for applications in health, care homes, leisure, education and social housing.
Lynn Wells is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and one of the first to specify Altro Aquarius. Her team oversees domestic adaptations to make homes suitable for people with disabilities for private and social housing sectors. They authorise around 200 bathroom adaptations a year. "Studded safety flooring is great for use in a shower, but ideally not for the rest of a domestic bathroom as it can be difficult to keep clean. However, in such small spaces it's often not possible to insist on two different types of flooring, and safety does need to come first," she explains.
Lynn and her colleagues were impressed by Altro Aquarius and agreed to specify the new safety flooring for the Riley's bathroom. "When we were told about Altro Aquarius safety flooring – which doesn't have those studs, is easier to clean and is suitable for use in wet and dry conditions, with bare feet and with shoes – we wanted to find out more. After seeing it installed at the Riley's home, we'll be using it again," says Lynn.
Mrs Riley is delighted with the results. "Altro Aquarius is easy to keep clean and looks nice in our bathroom," she says. "I was worried that the room could end up looking a bit clinical, so was pleased when I saw the colour palette I could choose from. The colours are nice and we could pick one that matched our wall tiles and gave a homely feel."
Altro Aquarius is the result of three years' research and development work in direct response to customer feedback. Achieving over 36 in TRRL pendulum tests and Class B to DIN51097 for barefoot use, Altro Aquarius provides optimum slip resistance in both wet and dry environments.
Whilst studded safety flooring provides a perfect solution for barefoot and soft soled shoe use in wet locations such as pool surrounds, there are many wet areas such as bathrooms, showers and changing rooms, where use is more diverse. Frequently, wet and barefoot users share the environment with those who are dry or wearing a variety of footwear. Until the arrival of Altro Aquarius, these areas proved problematical when it came to choosing flooring, with a slip risk for shoe wearers on wet floors. Altro Aquarius takes away the uncertainty of how and where to specify and install safety flooring for mixed barefoot and shoe use.
Altro Aquarius is highly flexible and will cove and weld easily, making it ideal for installation in confined areas such as domestic bathrooms or en suites.
Altro Aquarius provides a fully integrated wall and floor system in conjunction with Altro Whiterock wall cladding, for use in wet rooms and other areas where safety and hygiene are critical and that might be used wet or dry, bare footed or wearing shoes. Both product ranges include integral Altrosan bacteriostat, which does not support the growth of MRSA and similar organisms. Altro Whiterock is available in a range of colours including the soft pastels of Altro Whiterock Satins, ideal for care homes, or the bold and glossy colours of Altro Whiterock Chameleon, already a firm favourite in hospitals.
Download the PDF