The location
Next door to the Stade de Suisse in Bern, two prominent high-rise buildings house one of the major private educational institutions in Switzerland, the Feusi School. Up to 2500 students and approximately 500 staff pass through here every day. The wide range of courses at the German-speaking institute includes adult education and the College for Economics (PHW) as well as a Technical College for the medical profession.

The Problem
Replacement of approximately 15,000m2 of damaged Epoxy flooring. The sheer scale and severe time restrictions necessitated the work being carried out while the school remained open. Crucial factors in choosing the new floor finish therefore included minimising disruption to school activities with little or no disturbance from noise, VOC emissions or moisture. Additionally the project was to be phased, requiring fast turnarounds and the briefest possible exposure time for open surfaces. For these reasons removal and renewal with Epoxy flooring was not feasible.

The Solution
Amongst numerous other requirements for this project, the surface preparation and installation of the new floor finish had to be fast and create a minimum build-up in height. His long experience of successfully using Jumpax enabled Roland Kohler of Gerber AG Münsingen to convince both the contractors and the Feusi School that this was the only system that could fulfil all of their needs. Jumpax is quickly installed over the existing floor finish and creates a dry, floating sub-floor that is ready to receive new linoleum immediately. 90% of the floors were completed within 8 weeks. During a recent site visit both students and staff remarked on the improvement in underfoot comfort.

The Advantages

• The renovation has been successfully completed without introducing any moisture.

• High speed installation kept the project on time

• Phasing the work allowed the school to continue operating with little disruption

• Low height build-up reduced problems with doors etc.

• The harmonious combination of Jumpax and linoleum or any other resilient floor covering creates a floor that is both user and environmentally friendly.

The Jumpax Dual Underlay System consists of two different layers, the top and bottom panels are each coated with an interactive adhesive. The bottom panels also feature a levelling cushion of Styrofoam on the underside and a protective peel-off film over the adhesive coating on the top side. Both top and bottom panels are arranged in a staggered pattern with the top panels, laid adhesive side down, off-set so as to fully overlap the joint layout of the bottom panels. After peeling off the protective film the two layers are fixed together by firmly tapping or rolling down the top panels to ensure good contact between the adhesive coatings. This produces an extremely smooth and stable floating sub-floor.