While you’re watching a show, at a gig by a live band, a play in a theatre or some television programmes – have you ever looked at the floors?
No? not surprising really . . . . what’s happening on the floor is normally much more interesting!
We’re the opposite (sad, we know!) – we’re highly interested in what the floor is made of in many of these cases – often there’s a lot of design work gone into this part of any production like this, that no-one really gets to appreciate – often it’s just a part of the back-drop.
The production of these special floors can be a lengthy task – sometimes taking months to produce, and hundreds of hours on some of the most complicated machinery used in the UK.
The floor shown here, includes 4 different colour mats – all pre-cut to design and each perforated with up to 2000 drainage holes per sqmt produced from a special rubber flooring with a rigid plastic backing.
Because of the accuracy required, the holes are all cut by water-jet – piercing both materials together, to produce perfect round drain holes allowing water to flow through the mat as the floor is submerged.
Floors for these types of application are not just for aesthetic purposes – they can also perform a function, in the case of this design, a method of introducing and dispersing water quickly over a floor area. But flooring is often laid for safety reasons, to provide suitable grip for performers or as a soft-fall material so that no-one is hurt too much in that ever important, dramatic fight scene!
Horsemat are able to demonstrate their ability to work on major projects such as this, working closely with designers, floor technicians, all types of sub-contractors and fitters – while being involved in risk assessments, planning, material specification and sourcing, CAD, manufacture, bonding, handling and even installation of the product.