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Assembly of floors and PVC wallpaper: Glamour Floors

Assembly of vinyl wallpaper: Decotex Design

Design: Eclectarte SRL

Interior Designer: Erna Berger Moise

General entrepreneur: Pora Construct

The floor construction in a modern medical ward requires an extra challenge: these floors have to be suitable and in accordance with the norms that have to be respected, standards that targeted the utility, maintenance, resistance, and that, at the same time, offered the space a warm, familiary vibe, somehow different from the austere, intimidating atmosphere of the „traditional” hospitals. These requirements are doable only by using dedicated materials, of the highest quality, while avoiding, as much as possible, in the pacient ward, the „cold” floors (ceramics, stone, that are still useful in the reception area sometimes).
The requirements all the more demanding, given the fact that we’re talking about a private medical unit, with patients that maybe requested the same medical services abroad, where the tendency is to offer, besides appropriate medical services, an atmosphere similar to a high-end hotel. The number of medical staff in charge of a single patient is bigger, thus, the traffic intensity increases proportionally. At the same time, there is a bigger necessity for a perfect hygiene in the hospital (cleaning, disinfection, sterilization where needed).

COVERING MATERIALS

The project requested the covering of 4800 square meters of floors, unfolded on 5 storeys, floors that had to be suitable for a hospital and maternity. The main material that we used was linoleum (4000 square meters), a material that is not only ecological, but also easy to clean/maintain. The exception was made in the ORs, where we had to use conductive PVC, and in the bathrooms, where we opted for showers without tub. A surface of 3000 quare meters of walls have been covered in wallpaper, while the walls from the Operating Rooms and bathrooms have been covered with a certain kind of PVC, specially designed for such spaces. The manufacturer of the flooring wanted to emphasize the use of special transition profiles between the linoleum used in the wards and the PVC used in the bathrooms.

REQUIREMENTS FOR FLOOR COVERINGS

As far as floor coverings for medical facilities are concerned, it is worth stressing that technical solutions are necessary in order to prevent the development of microorganisms and accumulation of dust, which is why antibacterial and antistatic treatments are chosen. Their resistance has to be improved, given the fact that detergents and disinfectants are going to be used in the cleaning process. Their antistatic feature prevents the electrical charge during use, which would attract dust, and, in extreme cases, would affect the run of highly sensitive equipment (the ultrasound scan, for example). The skidproof feature of the floor musn’t be ignored when talking about a medical unit, nor the acoustic feature, in order to ensure a…hospital-like silence. Here we’re talking not only about the steps noise, but also the noise of wheeled medical equipment, that has to have a perfectly plane path. Last, but not least, the surface has to hold large amounts of weight, including the weight of the wheelchair, a standard regarding the reliability of the floors.

IMPORTANT STAGES

As Mr. Constantin Pora (the general entrepreneur of the project) declared, the building had a residential function at the beginning. After deciding its new function, there had to be a reconversion that had in sight the new requirements regarding the traffic, the medical character, and last but not least, the fire safety. Thus, supplementary work had to be done, including repartitioning. However, the challenge and the big achievement was the construction of the floors, because, as a new layout plan revealed level differences (on a storey, between the rooms) as big as 11 cm. Thus, equalization screeds were necessary, but a special technical solution had to found, one that would avoid the supplementary strain on the construction and the delay of the works. Given the situation, the balance was progressively, in each room, through a lightweight, rapid setting screed, that could finally be spread in a 1-2 cm thick layer. As Mr. Pora points out, the success of the works in the preliminary stage of the finishes was due to the good collaboration between the general entrepreneur and the workmen that mounted the floors. It is worth mentioning that the linoleum installation requires a 2% screed humidity and a special, rigid adhesive. A dedicated water dispersion adhesive has been used, as recommended by the specialists in the assembly of this type of coating. The materials used for the treatment and professional execution of the substrate, as well as for the bonding of floor coverings and wall coverings are part of the professional range and will be analyzed in detail on the following pages.