Client Brief: Transforming Communal Areas into a ‘Boutique Hotel’ Entrance
Back in late December, literally 5 minutes from closing for Christmas (I nearly didn’t take this call!) we were contacted by a London‑based investment company managing a large apartment block next to The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. They had purchased a large block of apartments next to The Mayflower Theatre, one of our city’s most iconic buildings.
The block was going to be benefiting from a long awaited renovation with the private dwellings (45 in total) being converted into short-term lets. We were tasked with supplying and fitting new communal flooring throughout the entrances, staircases and landings in both blocks, creating more of a ‘boutique hotel’ style entrance.
Our Flooring Solution: LVT Entrance and Durafit Carpet to Stairs and Landings
Work was required to start in the New Year. Once the work was approved this didn’t leave us long to order all stock and assign our labour. This was down to the wire as the commercial carpet chosen had to be made in Europe. It arrived with us 3 days before work was due to commence.
We started with the LVT flooring to the ground floor entrance, latexing the sub floor and laying the luxury vinyl tiles over two days as the decorators were coming to clad the walls and build the
reception desk.
Right on schedule, we then moved onto the carpeting of the stairs and landings. There was over 400m2 in total and this took a little longer than it would do usually as this particular job required a Durafit underlay system, whereby the underlay and carpet are fixed together. This aids longevity whilst providing a more luxurious feel underfoot that can sometimes be lost with a harder, commercial carpet.
Installation Timeline: Working to Tight Christmas and New Year Deadlines
The work took us two weeks with our fitters working Saturdays to keep us on schedule. I even jumped in to help out a couple of the days, even though the office environment is far more suited to my knees now.
Results: High‑End Look and Long‑Lasting Communal Flooring
As with all our commercial work and the renovations we are part of, we work closely with other trades. Sometimes this can be problematic with us all against the clock whist still striving to keep the quality of work at 100%. I must say though, that the team here, from the cleaners to the decorators and electricians were all great.
Our client was very happy with the new communal flooring and it was a privilege to work here, truly satisfying to leave the job looking so different to when we started.
If you manage apartment blocks or communal areas in Southampton and Hampshire, get in touch for a free flooring quote.
