Page 22 - College Planning & Management, February 2018

Facilities CAMPUS SPACES
Flooring Matters: Finding What Works
Floors are a conspicuous, hard-working element of every facility on campus. Affecting everything from branding, recruiting, and aesthetics to wayfinding, acous-
tics, and safety, selecting the right flooring for buildings requires attention to detail.
BY SCOTT BERMAN
MANY FACTORS CAN AFFECT a higher educa- tion institution’s brand or what people should think of that institution, its academic mission, administra-
tive practices, and competitive position. Those things speak to an institution’s goals, its way of life, how it handles change, how it achieves big matters and handles routine tasks. Reputations are also partially forged, or frayed, at literal points of contact, such as building interiors.
Interiors include finishes, including flooring, which is a highly conspicuous element inside any building. Floors represent institu- tions, directly or indirectly, and have demands that are specific
and changing. For example, administration offices, student centers or residences, science laboratories, or lecture halls all have flooring needs that are divergent within a given building and in comparison, to others on campus. Those needs evolve and are often accompanied by challenging budgetary requirements and installation time constraints.
Flooring as Part of the Institutional Brand
Institutions responding well and with vigor to such challenges signals a strong brand, as in, for example, whether the institution is efficient and able to discern and embrace opportunities, both
22 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / FEBRUARY 2018
WEBCPM.COM
PHOTO © EMA PETER