Aztech Soccer Arena

The hospitality offering at any sporting venue is a key part of a visitor’s experience, enabling visitors to socialise, celebrate or commiserate after a match. As such, it’s vital to consider the function of the hospitality space available, and implement a design that ensures customers enjoy the experience and camaraderie with their friends and family, while providing staff with easy navigation around the room.

In such a space, flooring is one of the hardest working elements, whether that’s in the dining area or back-of-house. In each zone, it’s also vital to use flooring to balance great aesthetics with safety, durability, easy maintenance and cost effectiveness.

This was a key consideration for designers of the all new Aztech Soccer Arena in Guernsey. The site’s original sports centre was acquired by former Guernsey Football Club midfielder Rob Jones, who was frustrated by the lack of indoor football coaching facilities on the island. Following a significant redesign and retrofit of the existing building, managed and executed by commercial interior design consultancy Vibe Business Interiors, Rob’s dreams of nurturing local talent were turned into a reality. The arena now boasts a data driven, 3G five-a-side pitch, restaurant, café, bar, spectators’ area and outdoor spaces.

The finished restaurant comprises a modern interior with industrial touches such as open brickwork, Crittall-style glazing and stainless steel light fixtures, which are offset by boldly coloured paintwork, tongue and groove panelling, wooden dining tables and Chesterfield style banquettes.

When it came to the perfect flooring to complement the overall look, Vibe Business Interiors’ Senior Designer James Harrison opted for the Polyflor Expona Commercial Wood range. Expona Commercial Wood is a collection of luxury vinyl tiles, replicating the beauty of natural timber for use in heavy commercial areas. Polyflor’s luxury vinyl tile range offers a huge range of tones and patterns, which means that the formatting options are endless.

It also guarantees premium quality, highly functional flooring that meets the most stringent environmental standards. This makes it especially perfect for coping with the rigours of busy restaurants and bars – as it’s scratch and scuff resistant while satisfying the needs of those who want to use sustainable products.

James and the team chose to install Cottage Oak and Cottage Oak Prisma in the main restaurant area and its walkways, with the matte finish and timber effect adding to the modern industrial mood of the room. They opted to install a design with prismatic rich tonal variations featured within each tile, as they required flooring that would help to distinctly zone the different areas throughout the premises. Moving away from traditional planks, the unique prism design floor elevates the interior, creating a warm and appealing environment for an enhanced dining experience. This approach was a design first for the product, adding visual depth and appeal in spades.

James said: “We spent months thinking through how best to create this amazing first for Guernsey.

The inclusion of Polyflor has created a visually engaging floor for the restaurant and complements the theme we have designed for the client, but also ensures that it’s durable and fit for purpose.

“Polyflor is good at keeping up to date with current trends without scrimping on safety or performance, and their ongoing customer care and product availability made it even more desirable. They provided fantastic support and, because their products are UK-based, stock and supply issues were never a problem.”

Rob Jones added: “This is going to be a centre for three-year-olds up to 80-year-olds. It will be available to all and I’m delighted to see new life breathed into it. This will be a serious training facility that has the wow factor, meaning we can develop local footballing talent.”