In 2012 several colleges merged and became the Thomas More Hogeschool. The new school was named after the humanist and philosopher Thomas More. The college offers professional bachelor degrees in 7 cities and municipalities, spread over 11 campuses, including Campus De Vest in Mechelen.
In 2013 they realized that the existing floors of Campus De Vest did not offer a sufficient noise reduction in the classrooms. Therefore MVB architecten started their search to find a solution that could improve the acoustics of the floors in the existing building.
Improved acoustics
By improving the acoustics in the corridors and classrooms, they wanted to create a more pleasant learning environment that would contribute to the successful training of the students studying at the Thomas More Hogeschool. MVB architects had previously come into contact with the rubber floor coverings of nora
® and because the focus was on the acoustic aspect, their search let them to the noraplan
® acoustic flooring. In addition to the proven product properties of rubber, these floor coverings also have the property that they improve the contact sound up to 20 dB.
To ensure that they met the requirements in terms of acoustics with this floor, they collaborated with the acoustician Johan Delaere. He approved the floor covering with which MVB architects had found a suitable solution.
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Design and functionality
However, the floor covering would not be used everywhere in the building. It was therefore important that the chosen floor would look and feel as similar as possible to the existing gray concrete floor.
At the same time, it also had to be able to resist the high number of students who would move daily through the corridors and classrooms.
Thanks to their dense, closed surface, the nora® rubber floor coverings are extremely durable, they are easy to clean and, even after years of intensive usage, they look like new. Moreover, unlike other resilient floor coverings, they do not require a coating. This makes them the most cost-effective solution in the long term. The choice therefore fell on the noraplan® stone acoustic. A floor covering that met both, aesthetic and functional requirements.
Fire safety
In addition to acoustics, fire safety was also an important point of attention. Here too, the rubber flooring convinced. The nora rubber floor are flame-retardant, as defined in EN 13 501, and offer high safety in the case of fire.
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