ÉCOLE ST. DENIS

Nestled beside an active creek in Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, is École St. Denis, a state-of-the-art, environmentally focused elementary school. Completed in January 2012, it is the first of three schools in the Catholic District School Board of New Ontario (Conseil Scolaire Catholique du Nouvel – Ontario) to have Mondo flooring installed throughout the entire building. Harmoni’s color options and comfort level aided in creating an aesthetically pleasing environment that would benefit teachers and students alike. “Our decision to install Mondo flooring throughout the entire school is a first of this type in Ontario,” says Régent Dupuis, manager of maintenance services and manager of capital projects for the Sudbury Catholic School Board. “Other installations have had Mondo included in individual rooms or areas, but not the entire facility.”

Yallowega Bélanger Architecture have been working with the Catholic District School Board since 1991, and are currently focusing a lot of their work around green initiatives. They wanted to create a project that would be significantly recognized for the environmental impact the school has on its neighborhood, the city and the community at large. To do so, they paid close attention to the materials used for the project. Mondo flooring was one that would have both a significantly positive impact on the occupants and the environment. On top of increasing underfoot comfort, our rubber flooring has additional sound absorption properties. The antibacterial and antimicrobial components of this flooring are also an important feature, especially when children are involved. Mondo’s Harmoni was installed in the school’s corridors, classrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms and office areas.

“We wanted to stay away from the more common type of finished floor that is being used in Ontario, which is polished concrete,” says Dupuis. “It is a very hard surface and the finish was not to our satisfaction. This type of flooring is also subject to a curing process, and can be defective once installed.” The architects used colors as a way to differentiate the different levels in an obvious way. The main floor is green while the middle level is red and so on. The color options offered by Mondo were another important factor in deciding to purchase our product.