These come in 2 varieties Open and Panelled. The panelled walls have doors and windows cut into them to form a house/shop/hospital, whatever the children imagine. These doors and windows are cut into a high quality 15mm thick clean plywood sheets which is supported between legs of solid wood. The open sides, which usually go against walls to maintain access to notice boards, plugs, radiators etc., are made from solid wooden sections which are jointed and glued. The addition of corner braces, which are also jointed and glued and placed carefully to avoid an entrapment, form a very strong frame.
In both cases all edges are rounded and smoothed before the whole thing is coated in 2 coats of acrylic varnish which is easy to wash if this is necessary.
High quality construction on the walls making a very soild structure
Once the walls are formed a floor frame is made up of 100mm by 50mm solid wooden joists spaced at a maximum of 600mm. This frame slots down into the walls to make the whole structure very rigid. A layer of 15mm thick clean plywood is laid across the floor joists and fixed to them. As with the walls all edges are rounded and smoothed and the whole floor is varnished underneath so that the ceiling is smooth to the touch.
On top the whole area is covered in snug fitting, 14mm thick soft foam tiles. These interlock tightly together and not only make the top floor comfortable to sit or kneel on but help to reduce the impact of bumps and knocks.
Attention to detail on all the joints to ensure a good strong solid fit
Like a strong staircase in your house our stairs have solid wooden sides and treads formed from the same clean plywood used for the panelled walls. They are produced specially for each loft to make sure they comply with EN1176 part 1 regulations and are made to hold a section of soft foam floor on each step. The top and the underside have all edges rounded and smoothed and the whole thing is varnished with an easily washable coating.
All stairs are finished with a soft fall mat
Risers are all the same, staircase at 45 degrees
All decks and landings that are raised by more than 600mm are protected by balustrade to prevent falls. This balustrade is made from solid wood which is constructed to be strong enough to stop any unwanted falls but open enough to allow teachers to see what is going on. The firmly fixed bars are carefully spaced to avoid entrapment of hands and heads and each section is topped with a shaped handrail. For extra security we build our balustrade at 750mm high to make even the adults feel secure when they climb up to the deck.
Again all edges are rounded and smoothed before the whole thing is coated in 2 coats of acrylic varnish which is easy to wash if this is necessary.
Balustrade rails height is well above that required by EN1176
to ensure those happy children stay where they should be
