Case study

Leading Edge Aviation, Oxford Airport: quieter classrooms with carpet tiles

Leading Edge Aviation's classrooms at Oxford Airport in Kidlington are on the first floor, and chairs dragging on the hard floors were disturbing people during exams. We laid carpet tiles straight over the existing floors to soak up the noise, moving the furniture and trimming the doors ourselves, all out of hours so training carried on as normal.

Whittle training room at Leading Edge Aviation before: hard wood-effect vinyl floor under rows of desks — BeforeWhittle room, noisy hard floor

Whittle training room after: grey commercial carpet tiles with the desks back in place — Afternew carpet tiles, furniture back in

Client: Leading Edge Aviation, Oxford Airport, Kidlington
Areas: Classrooms, training rooms and offices
Floor: Commercial carpet tiles laid over the existing floors
Working hours: Out of hours, so training carried on as normal
The problem: Chairs scraping on hard first-floor floors, disturbing exams
Also included: Furniture moved out and back, doors taken off and trimmed

On site

Working at a busy airfield

Leading Edge Aviation trains pilots at Oxford Airport in Kidlington, so their rooms are in use all day. We came in out of hours and left each room clean with the furniture back where it belongs, ready for the next morning's lessons.

Two Oxford Flooring Specialists vans parked at Oxford Airport, Kidlington, with aircraft and hangars behind — Our vans on site at Oxford Airport, Kidlington

How we did it

A busy training school can't close for a week, so we planned the work around their timetable and exams.

1
Out of hours
We worked evenings and outside training times, so classes and exams carried on as normal during the day.
2
Furniture moved out
We cleared each room of desks, chairs and equipment ourselves, so the floor was completely clear to work on.
3
Laid over the old floor
No strip-out: the carpet tiles went straight over the existing vinyl and painted floors. That made the job quicker and cleaner and kept costs down.
4
Doors trimmed
Doors were taken off and cut down to clear the extra height of the carpet tiles, then rehung so they close properly.
5
Quieter rooms
Hard-wearing commercial carpet tiles laid room by room, with neat edges and door bars. No more chairs scraping overhead during exams.
6
Furniture back, rooms clean
Everything went back where it belongs and each room was left clean, ready for the next morning's lessons.