Some building uses are inherently tough on flooring. A very good example are laboratory settings that can be the function of an entire building (i.e., higher education science/research buildings, bio-pharmaceutical facilities, etc.) or part of another building (i.e., health care, manufacturing, etc.). All of these settings typically involve processes or activities that can require the use of chemicals, biological organisms, or heavy traffic from people and/or equipment. The flooring in these spaces, in particular, needs to hold up to these conditions in a way that is not only good for the buildings, but good for the people who use them too. That means architects and designers are often challenged to find flooring solutions to meet the rigorous demands of these spaces while still achieving human comfort, excellent appearance, ease of cleaning, and long term durability. This course will look a bit closer at these demands and assess some of the common flooring choices that have been used in the range of buildings where laboratory settings are found. In particular, we will investigate the growing use of rubber flooring products that have emerged as a proven alternative to some other traditional flooring materials and the qualities that have made them the preferred choice of many architects, designers, and building owners in laboratory settings.

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