When Lenape Meadows School opened its doors in Mahwah, N.J., last September, color, from floor to ceiling, greeted the school's 600 students. Soffits in the ceiling mimic clouds in the sky. Colored columns and walls brighten classrooms and hallways. And in the floors, bubble insets in a variety of colors and patterns help children in pre-kindergarten through third grade find their way through unfamiliar hallways.

At the recommendation of Jodi Latsha, certified interior designer with The Thomas Group, nora® Rubber Flooring supplied 65,000 square feet of rubber flooring products to the 88,000-square-foot, two-story, state-of-the-art facility. "Because this was new construction and I did not have to match existing flooring, I was able to move away from traditional VCT (vinyl composition tile) and upgrade to linoleum or rubber flooring," she explained. "In the end, we presented rubber flooring in our design because we liked the fact that we could install the flooring without seams, and where we planned to introduce patterns, we did not have to worry about heat welding any of the seams associated with the patterns.

"We also liked the fact that nora® Rubber Flooring comes in sheets as well as tiles," continued Latsha. "That option helped us hold down costs by allowing us to choose the more economical approach to each application. "Of course from a design standpoint, the color selection nora® products offered was also important to us. The administration wanted to create a building that catered, in terms of color, to the young students that attend the school. They were looking for a whimsical, bright, cheery atmosphere, and the variety of colors nora® Rubber Flooring offers enabled us to provide that kind of environment."

Durability and maintenance were also important to school administrators. According to nora® Account Executive Eileen Masciarelli, "Durability was an issue in their choice of nora® Rubber Flooring as was maintenance, because they do not have to wax our products. Environmentally, our products offer additional pluses because nora® Rubber Flooring products contain renewable resources and recycled content, and they have excellent indoor air quality properties."

The designer selected noraplan® stone to run throughout most of the building, including the main lobby, corridors on the first and second floor, the 36 800-square-foot classrooms, the 5,000-square-foot cafeteria and the building's media center. "In fact," said Latsha, "the only areas that do not have nora® products are the administration area, which is carpeted, the gymnasium and the bathrooms."

The high-density surface of noraplan® stone provides protection against scuffs in a high-traffic school setting and helps prevent the formation of travel paths that shorten the lifespan of a floor. The product is also dirt-repellent thanks to an extremely dense surface and "nora cleanguard®." Taken together, these features of the flooring eliminate the need for wax, translating into easy and inexpensive cleaning and lower maintenance costs. "The flooring is meeting the needs of our building and grounds staff in terms of maintenance and upkeep," said Murray Blueglass, superintendent of Mahwah Township Public Schools. "Our head custodian tells me these floors are wonderfully easy to maintain. He washes the floors in record time without having to wax them, and as a result of these time savings, he's able to wash the floors more frequently. During this past year, the floor has held up beautifully."

The excellent wear resistance of noraplan® is matched by slip resistance that is in compliance with ADA guidelines. "We have 600 young children in this building with the capacity for 750," continued Blueglass. "With the rubber flooring, we're not worried about children slipping."

Available in a choice of 120 colors in a coordinated range, the noraplan® system made it easy for Latsha to implement her colorful design throughout the school. The designer also chose the heavier norament® grano to cover a platform in the gym as well as stairs, landings and ramps throughout the school. The non-directional confetti appearance of the norament® product coordinates with the noraplan® stone and offers the same long-wearing, easy-to-maintain characteristics and safety features.

According to Latsha, delivery and installation of the nora® rubber flooring went smoothly. "In fact," she added, "we were working with an incredibly accelerated construction schedule, and nora® came through very well on that score. Their people were unbelievable to work with, meeting a crazy schedule and doing a lot with us in terms of custom colors. They had no problem providing us with color samples and then producing the flooring for us on time. I really was impressed with just how hard all the nora® people worked on this job."

The result of their hard work is a school that exudes excitement and color, and the color serves an important function. "What's interesting about the color choices and the floor patterns is that they designate areas of the schools that the children can identify with," commented Latsha. "For example, patterns of bubbles appear at clusters of classrooms, so teachers can direct children to a particular classroom by asking them to look for a specific color bubble. The floor plays an important role in getting kids through the building and into classrooms, bathrooms and special interest areas." Adds Blueglass, "The colored flooring tells you where classrooms, bathrooms and exits are in every hallway. It also provides wonderful splashes of color in our entrance lobbies. The coordination of the walls, the tables, chairs, cabinets, etc., all tied into the floors is just extraordinary.

"I have reason to believe we're going to be happy with these floors for years to come," he continued, "and the reason I believe that so strongly is the fact that the floors have held up so well during the past year. There are a lot of little feet walking up and down these hallways every day and looking at the floor today, you would never know that. It has held up beautifully and helped us create a safe, bright, cheerful building for our children."