Designer Gym Flooring Selection: An Eco Gym Perspective — Biofilico Wellness Interiors

Zandur flooring looking mighty fine with a nature mural, wood rowers and leather sandbags

10 Tips on Gym Flooring and fitness centre flooring by a Gym Designer

1. GYM design budget and commercial gym FLOORING PRICES

First up, pricing of gym floors. For some it may come as a surprise that gym flooring is so expensive however this is also one of the most important decisions in the gym design process, bar none.

In terms of tangible numbers then, how much is enough for a gym flooring budget? We recommend allowing GB£60 per m2 -GB£80 per m2, in order to tick as many of the boxes outlined below there are simply no shortcuts.

Yes there are cheaper gym floor options out there such as rolls (rather than tiles) of Made In China ‘rubber' gym flooring that does not come with any kind of product declaration and almost certainly contains a multitude of VOCs and other chemical contaminants.

Many gyms will make some sacrifices, for example in sustainability terms, in order to economize with gym flooring closer to £30 per m2 especially if they have a large lifting zone or free weight areas where weights will be dropped frequently.

Colour options will be extremely limited however as mentioned, the flooring will not meet our own standards for wellbeing interiors / healthy interiors due to its affects on indoor air quality.

Hotel gym design tends to come with a different set of constraints, see our dedicate page here.

2. gym design and ACOUSTICS / NOISE REDUCTION

Depending on the chosen heating, cooling and ventilation system for a gym, there may be temperature considerations to factor into a gym flooring choice.

For example, underfloor heating systems in cooler parts of the UK or Scandinavia may come with certain requirements around what can be laid directly on top of them. It is worth checking with the supplier if an underlay beneath the gym flooring is recommended on this basis.

As long as the gym flooring has modest to good heat conductivity, there shouldn’t be an issue here.

Why might an underlay be useful? Let’s take an example from an urban environment such as a gym located on the first floor of an office building with ground-floor retail below and offices above.

Heavy loads dropped onto a thin 5mm laminate flooring tile laid directly onto the inherited flooring is likely to send the sound of clanging metal pretty efficiently in all directions, causing noise pollution that can come back to bite the gym owner.

Better to layer in an acoustic underlay made of dense eco-friendly and non-toxic fabric, ideally at least 2-3cm thick. This not only helps with noise reduction by absorbing and dampening the sound of heavy weights and equipment but also adds comfort underfoot. This is especially important in a home gym space where protecting domestic flooring and reducing noise for other household members is crucial. Yes, it is a modest extra expense but you won’t regret it. Gym users will thank you for the added comfort underfoot as well.

If you opt for a denser, hard surface such as wood or bamboo flooring, clearly there will need to be some areas of the gym such as around the squat racks where a more heavy-duty rubber tile will be required on top of the wood or bamboo to protect it, this in turn has an impact on the overall aesthetics of the space too.

Gym design budgets could therefore potentially include an underlay, the main flooring tile or rolls, as well as additional tiles on top on the heavy lifting area.

3. gym design and THE ROLE OF different gym flooring types for user comfort

We are fans of natural materials such as solid wood floorboards, whether salvaged from old train tracks for example, or sourced from sustainable forests within the region.

They provide a natural solution that does not give off harmful airborne toxins and they look great but, and this is a big BUT for a gym, they are unlikely to encourage much interaction with the floor by clients once the gym opens.

This is where training style and gym design inter-lap and is often the hardest part to communicate to an architect studio or interior design studio in charge of a gym design project.

If the training concept behind the gym involves an element of natural fitness or ‘functional training’ then one way to facilitate that type of activity is to install a flooring tile with a softer feel such as a vulcanized, non-toxic rubber that is not going to prevent a gym user from attempting a forward roll for example, or a cat crawl on all fours. For home gyms, durable and stylish home gym flooring options, like non-slip rubber flooring, are ideal as they support heavy-duty use while ensuring safety and comfort.

When did gyms stop becoming about agility, physical movement and play anyway?

The connection between flooring choice and the type of movements a gym user will feel comfortable performing in the gym may appear a subtle point but in fact it has a significant psychological impact on the end user experience.

Softer flooring solutions encourage more experimental movement by a gym user, harder flooring solutions do the opposite, from our gym designer perspective this is an undeniable fact. Softer flooring can still support heavy equipment while promoting a variety of movements.

Of note is that a classic gymnasium flooring material is in fact a spring floor, offering unparalleled bounce for gymnasts - however this is not much use for every other type of gym, except perhaps natural movement training!

4. GYM FLOORING AND INDOOR AIR QUALITY

Until early 2020 very few people were talking about indoor air quality in gyms but Covid changed that and we are unlikely to forget what we have learnt. In a way this is a good thing. More awareness of harmful VOCs in our furniture and flooring means more support for natural materials such as bamboo, cork and rubber, sustainably sourced please.

Clearly we want to stay away from installing anything with harmful toxins such as formaldehyde but we also need to control what is brought in from outside, especially in dense urban environments such as a city centre. Wearing the same shoes on the streets as you train in is going to have immediate consequences on the indoor air quality inside the gym, there is simple no escaping that. Additionally, using a pH neutral cleaner is crucial to maintain indoor air quality and avoid introducing harmful chemicals.

We now recommend additional attention be paid to the HVAC filters in a gym to ensure they are high grade, preferably MERV 13 or above, unless there is the option for natural ventilation in an indoor-outdoor space. Failing that though, we need the mechanical engineer on the project to be one step ahead with the ventilation rates to ensure a steady changeover of the indoor air throughout the day, even with our preferred option of eco-cork / rubber flooring tiles on the gym floor!

In terms of specifics, we want a gym floor that contains no PVC, phthalates or halogens and we really must insist on it being Red List** chemical free**

Other references might include a material that exceeds California IAQ (CHPS) indoor air quality standards (the gold standard for such things in many respects).

Many suppliers are now joining the dots between their products and green building systems like LEED or healthy building systems like WELL by illustrating where their products score points in each of the respective score cards. every manufacturer with a conscience and an eye on the future should be doing this!

5. sustainability & gym flooring

We would highlight cork and eco-rubber as top choices for sustainability, either as separate solutions or indeed in a cork-rubber blend as in our favourite Zandur tiles that combine both in one innovative solution.

We could also highlight bamboo flooring and solid wood planks but when we take into consideration all of the points mentioned in this article, cork and eco-rubber stand out as our first choices.

For a full Life Cycle Assessment approach to choosing a gym floor we now consider not just where the raw materials come from but also where they will go at the end of their life, in a decade from now say. some suppliers now offer take-back recycling programs that provides additional peace of mind for the gym owner. A small detail perhaps but details count in this game. Avoid adding to landfill waste that future generations will have to tackle eventually; instead select a fully recyclable material for your gym floor.

6. GYM FLOOR DURABILITY & IMPACT

Durability is a key factor as most gyms are going to have metal weights being lifted, carried, and dropped by gym users who have just exerted maximum effort in their last rep. The flooring needs to withstand the impact of heavy weights to ensure durability and safety. These things happen so as gym designers we have to plan to accommodate them.

Dumbbells and barbells frequently get dropped so we are looking for a solution that is especially hard-wearing in the strength zone in particular. And there should always be a strength zone! Additional rubber tiles on top of the gym floor will do the job, providing around 30mm of protection.

For barbell areas, there are Olympic lifting platforms that will fit in / around a power rack. Here again, it is worth investing in high quality solutions that will be able to resist even heavier weight drops, here we can be talking about 150kg-200kg in any serious gym, possible being dropped from overhead height, so count on at least 2 metres drop height.

For stretching areas, functional training zones (with sandbags, ropes, etc.) and cardio zones a lighter, softer material of 5-10mm can be useful but strength areas require a solid 20-30mm rubber tile system that is basically bombproof. This is especially important for home gyms where high-impact weight training and Olympic lifting are common. Rubber floor tiles provide soundproof and shock-absorbing benefits, making them ideal for home gym settings.

Anything less is going to cause you headaches in the long run, maybe not on day one, maybe not on day 365 but eventually the tiles will start to become a health & safety risk if they do not fit together perfectly. As gym designers, we have seen this happen too many times not to mention it here!

The one other caveat is strength machine areas (as opposed to free weights and barbell zones) as the static machines remove most of these risks from the equation completely, nothing is hitting the floor unexpectedly in this training zone. Yes there is considerable load placed on the flooring but it is a steady, constant load rather than an actual ‘impact’.

Regular cleaning with a damp mop is essential to maintain the durability of the flooring and ensure it remains safe and hygienic for all users.

7. THE AESTHETICS OF GYM FLOORING

Have you ever noticed that most gym designs specify flooring options that all look more or less the same?

We can identify a number of groups in this sense, for example CrossFit gym designs and budget gym designs around the world almost universally feature solid black or black speckled rubber tiles. Why?

They are fundamentally a cheap option, readily available from any number of gym equipment suppliers, they are functional and will likely last 3-5 years without any issues… nobody ever complained about this type of flooring, ever!

If we move into the realms of boutique gym design standards and even more so with premium or luxury gym design standards facilities such as resort gyms however, a number of different options emerge, not least natural cork tiles or an eco-friendly cork-rubber mix, sustainable FSC wood, eco bamboo flooring, even wood-effect LVT tiles for a cheaper but no less sustainable solution.

High-end rubber tile solutions from the likes of Pavigym come in a wide range of colours ensuring complete aesthetic integration into each specific site, this is another one of our preferred flooring options as a hotel gym designer.

Gym locations with limited natural light for example may do well to opt for a brighter colour rather than the standard dark black. We are fans of a terracotta colour in certain facilities as well as a Zandur leafy green for natural fitness training areas. After a certain price point the choice becomes vast, giving the gym designer plenty of room for creativity.

8. HYGIENE & GYM FLOORING - A NEW FRONTIER

Manufacturers are now producing detailed cleaning guides to ensure that hygiene standards can be higher than ever without putting the flooring tiles at risk, in part this is thanks to the material’s resistance to chemicals or disinfectants.

Equally porosity is key here as we do not want sweat or other liquids to penetrate the surface of the flooring tile.

A high quality virgin rubber tile will ensure that no odours linger around at the end of the day, the surface can be wiped clean and sanitized professionally, and also will not absorb any spillages of water bottles, protein shakes and the like.

Already the terms micro-bacterial and anti-fungal are appearing with increasing regularity in marketing materials but with good reason so be sure to select a gym flooring tile that performs well in both aspects.

We are fans of athletic turf tracks used for sled pulls such as those produced by Sprint Tracks in the Netherlands. Sprint tracks are custom made and can be created in 4 weeks in any combination of colors. However, the Polyethylene plastic used to make it is a concern from an indoor air quality perspective as well as from a single-use plastic perspective as this type of materials appears to be non-recyclable, thereby contributing to the world’s growing plastic problem.

Any manufacturers of athletic turf that is non harmful to People and Planet are invited to contact us to make our lives as gym designers easier!

9. gym design and eco-friendly installation

It may sound obvious but being able to not only install your own floor tiles but also remove them, move them around or replace them at a future date gives you that extra bit of flexibility should circumstances change in the future, or your gym needs evolve.

Typically a good option is an interlocking tile system with connector plates on the underside of the tiles. A pack of 4 x 50cm2 tiles would therefore give you 1m2 of flooring that can be lined up with the next square metre and so on.

Ramped edges and corner sections ensure there are no health and safety risks with sharp differences in height between zones, for example between the entrance and the main gym training area.

Be sure to specify no-VOC adhesives or backing so that no off-gasses are introduced into the gym space during the fit-out process that would damage the indoor air quality.

10. gym design and health & safety concerns

Last but not least, if it needed saying, your gym flooring tiles should meet all relevant fire and smoke standards.

For Biofit gym designs we are usually working with European and North American standards; opting for cheaper Chinese solutions in particular can expose a gym owner to risk in this sense so it is always worth checking twice before proceeding with a purchase.

By way of an example, Zandur Sustain Sport gym flooring has slip resistance that surpasses that of most safety flooring and exceeds UL and ADA recommendations, meets all North American and European standards for fire and smoke, and it STILL manages to exceed California IAQ (CHPS) indoor air quality. Beat that if you can!

For more information about our gym design services see here or contact us via email here

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