About Royal Victoria Place Shopping Centre
The popular Royal Victoria Place Shopping Centre in Kent first opened its doors in 1992 and today has over 90 top name stores spanning three floors, as well as a wide choice of places in which families can dine and relax. Located in the heart of Royal Tunbridge Wells, and open seven days a week, Royal Victoria Place Shopping Centre attracts over 10 million visitors per annum. Given the levels of pedestrian traffic, the entrance matting had been subjected to some wear and tear, and needed to be replaced to refresh the main entrance areas.
The Project
UK Facilities Solutions provides a comprehensive range of reactive maintenance and upgrade services to Royal Victoria Place. The facilities company, also based in Kent, specialises in working with the leisure and retail sector. It was tasked with sourcing suitable replacement entrance matting for the Shopping Centre and via the RIBA Product Selector, narrowed down the selection to COBA Flooring and specifically, the Premier range of entrance tiles. After some further research, a combination of interlocking Premier Grip Tiles and Premier Track Tiles, complete with the integration of a custom printed Logo Mat, was selected based on price, aesthetics, functionality and durability.
Two entrances, including Calverley Road and the main entrance area on Fiveways, have been revitalised following the installation of Premier entrance matting covering floor areas of 5m x 6m and 8m x 6m respectively. The installation in recessed matwells was straightforward and hassle-free, and carried out by UK Facilities Solutions.
By choosing a combination of Premier Tile products, an interlocking system, the entrances have been designed to get maximum benefit from scraping and wiping footwear, while looking very stylish and effectively promoting the Royal Victoria Place brand through the Logo Mat. On entering, shoppers initially walk over Premier Grip Tiles (100% PVC) which perform a dirt scraping action, and then onto Premier Track Tiles (a combination of PVC and carpet) which help to wipe any remaining moisture and residue from footwear. A bespoke Logo Mat featuring the Royal Victoria Place branding has been inlayed within the design. This has created two very smart entrance areas to the Shopping Centre. The Premier system is easy to clean and maintain too. Royal Victoria Place Shopping Centre uses a rotating brush system with hot water extraction every month, which lifts the dirt out of the fibres of the matting and deep cleans the PVC element of it also.
