YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
Sport and play are no longer just leisure-time activities. Fact is that in the context of daily school life, physical activity plays an increasingly important role as contrast to the intellectual stress. This concept is wholly supported by the private school St. George’s School in Duisburg, Germany. This international school, which has combined an academic education with English culture and traditional English values for more than three decades, runs private schools in Cologne, Aachen and Munich. The children at St. George’s School already learn English in nursery school from the age of two, followed by primary and secondary schooling. During this time, the children learn not only for an academic future, but also for the rest of their life. Special value is placed on sporting activities and right from the start, safety is a focus topic for even the youngest children. It was for exactly this reason that the school management decided to renovate the existing sports pitch with climbing frame and to install an additional small playing field equipped with artificial turf. "Despite already having a playground with a climbing frame, the range of play activities possible for the children was simply too limited. Our intention was to create sufficient room for the children to play and let off steam," said David Ebeling, Facility Manager at St. George’s School, before continuing, "We also needed a new solution for the existing small playing field. Previously this was natural grass, but the children needed a pitch where they could play every day and in any weather." As alternative surface, it was intended to install an artificial turf pitch which would be not only easier to maintain, but also very weather resistant. A few weeks ago, both the new, larger play-activity area and the new small playing field were ceremoniously opened.
Trust pays off
Why risk something new, when established solutions have proved to be good? The management of St. George’s School was of the same opinion and while looking into the opportunities offered in general by artificial turf and requesting offers, they also took into consideration an already completed project at the St. George’s School in Cologne. Here, the decision-makers had put their trust right from the start in the quality and competency of Trofil Sportbodensysteme GmbH & Co. KG for the installation of a large playing field. As logical conclusion of this positive project, the experts from Hennef were called on again, not only from the aspect of price-performance ratio. More important was the advantage of having Trofil as expert partner for several projects.
Fresh green and a new playground area
That the right partner for artificial turf was been found with Trofil was illustrated in particular in the rapid and efficient completion of both pitches. In order to create the new small pitch, around 456 m2 large, it was first necessary to remove the natural turf. A drainage system was then laid to achieve optimal removal of rainwater and so-called shock pads were positioned before the TROFIL-GREEN® Multi-Turf 40 surface, specially developed for sports fields, was installed. As the small playing field was intended for rough, free-style play, the surface chosen is characterised by its environmentally-compatible rubber granulate and quartz sand filling which helps to avoid injury to joints and prevents friction burns or grazes. The properties of the TROFIL-GREEN® Multiturf 40 are no less valuable than natural turf whether from a performance or optical point of view. It is resistant to heat and frost, rain or strong sunshine and its colour does not fade. Whether used for football, hockey or cricket, the characteristic features of this playing surface are its very natural playing and ball rolling behaviour as well as its player-friendliness. With the expansion of the existing playground area to include an additional 350 m2 of space and two climbing frames, a "wobbly bridge", sandpit and multi-purpose climbing frame, sufficient room was created to explore and let off steam. Suitable fall-protection was ensured for the children of St. George’s School by a combination of fall-protection surface and fine wood chips. "We are happy to have found the right partner with Trofil. With the project here in Duisburg every worked very efficiently and the time management was excellent with no delays," stated David Ebeling before adding, "With the positive realisation of this project we look back with great satisfaction on the cooperation with Trofil and can recommend them without reservation."
Photo: TROFIL
