When flooring needs to be resistant to liquid nitrogen
Spectrum’s contract rubber flooring was selected for the new purpose built Bio21 Institute of Molecular Science and Biotechnology, abbreviated as the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. The three-storey mass timber laboratory building at the bioscience campus in Parkville was designed by Architectus.
The project also included preservation of the heritage listed market wall, refurbishment of the historic Veterinary Research Institute Building, a new link to the recently completed Nancy Millis building and major infrastructure upgrades to support the new facility.
Spectrum’s Rubber flooring had to meet PC2 laboratory requirements and needed to be resistant to liquid nitrogen, a freezing agent that is constantly used in the laboratory. The rubber flooring is outperforming the laboratory staff’s expectations for durability and performance given the challenging requirements.
The challenge for the design was to house the cyro electron microscopes with strict requirements for permissible vibration allowances on the structure and building services requiring constant power and temperature control.
Read more about the project here.
Bio21 staff feedback for the rubber flooring states that it is outperforming other resilient floor coverings.