King is a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world, with people all around the world playing one or more of their games. Their franchises include Candy Crush, Farm Heroes, Pet Rescue and Bubble Witch and have 355 million monthly active users across web, social and mobile platforms. King was acquired by Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq ATVI) in February 2016 and operates as an independent unit of the company and have game studios in Stockholm, Malmo, Barcelona, Berlin and Seattle, along with offices in San Francisco, Malta, Tokyo, Bucharest…and London.
The King studios in the heart of London’s West End is a veritable cathedral to side-ways thinking. Once inside, it’s simply a mind-blowing experience with vibrant coloured rooms and office layouts, together with small ‘thinking cubicles’ for those creative minds and larger spaces that house the engine rooms of their gaming production. They’ve also got a soundproofed room with instruments and a drum kit in it. Mad? Not a bit of it. It’s there so staff can ‘have a go’ and let loose some noise and perhaps even some frustration? No forward-thing thinking company like King would be complete without an on-site fitness suite and gym. It’s their commitment that everybody in the company should be healthy and happy. No bad thing.
Project Manager Brondie McNamara has been at King, in London for three years now. It’s a big job with huge responsibilities that encompass everything from flooring through to interior design, right down to choosing light switches. She comments, “we had problems with the acoustic qualities of our old floor at the previous building in London and it was hard to find a decent colour range. I opted for Gerflor’s Taralay Uni Comfort range in orange and white Pearl. They offered such stunning, vibrant colour contrasts and were hugely eye-catching”. She adds, “It’s all about how we use the space. We must always enhance the experience for visitors and staff alike”. She further adds, “We really plan a building before we move in. Right down to ensuring that the underfloor cabling can accommodate multi-moves with desks and workstations as staff migrate from area to area. It’s all about being agile and the Gerflor products facilitate this”.
Brondie McNamara further says, “We would have also specified Gerflor for our new reception here in Wardour Street, but the building has some constraints on it due to being considered an area of ‘public art’. In a sense, its listed. So, alterations to that area could not be made”.
When the new King building was being conceived, it was always going to have a gym and fitness facility for the staff as part of the overall project included in the initial design. In providing the very best sports and gym equipment Brondie McNamara also wanted to ensure the staff got the very best flooring for the gym, which could provide comfort, safety and performance, together with looking amazing. Brondie McNamara would once again specify Gerflor, choosing some 210m2 Gerflor’s Taraflex® Sport M Performance vinyl sports flooring in three pulsating colours; Pink, Silver Grey and London Light Blue.
Taraflex® vinyl sports flooring has been used in many international and local sporting events and is available in 17 colours and three wood-effect designs.
The Sport M Performance product offers a P2 category shock absorbency 25% to 35% and meets the EN 14904 Standard for indoor sports surfaces. Taraflex® is recognised for providing durability, safety and comfort without impairing performance. The range also offers greater than 45% force reduction, making it unrivalled in the marketplace in terms of offering comfort for users. Taraflex® meets the EN Standard of 22196 for antibacterial activity (E. coli – S. aureus – MRSA) (3) returning >99% levels of growth inhibition. The product is also treated with Protecsol®, which renders polish redundant and is triple action meaning no polish is ever required, it contributes to easy maintenance and is anti-friction burn and slide/grip. Taraflex® has a double density foam backing and with another bonus, it’s environmentally friendly.
Brondie went on to say, “The Taraflex flooring is quiet, resilient and very hard wearing. Our staff love it and it’s great for cutting in designs which is key to King.
We have a very vibrant corporate set of colours and this needs to be reflected in the flooring wherever possible. Gerflor flooring does this”. She added, “the current product looks great. In fact, it still looks brand new. My contractors choose Gerflor a lot of the time for other projects. It’s easy to lay and work with and the quality is there. After all, we don’t want to be constantly replacing flooring. Its false economy to specify a lesser-quality product. Gerflor products are also very easy to clean and the durability is there too”. She further added, “We had to move to the new office over Christmas 2015 and if there had been problems with the flooring then this would simply have been a nightmare. Thanks to the Gerflor products this wasn’t the case”.
Brondie McNamara finally said, “I would always specify Gerflor whenever I can. The range of products is exactly the high quality and creativity that we demand at King for all our buildings”.
Learn more about Gerflor solutions, ask for a free sample or contact us to speak to a specialist today by calling 01926 622 600, emailing contractuk@gerflor.com, or visiting gerflor.co.uk for the latest innovations.
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