As Rio 2016 beckons for Team GB, Origin Fitness was appointed as the supplier of choice to design, fit out and install fitness equipment and specialist flooring solutions at the National Taekwondo Centre in Manchester. Working closely in partnership with the GB Taekwondo management, the team at Origin Fitness were tasked with delivering a facility which met the unique requirements of the athletes entering the final preparation stages of their quest for glory in Rio.

The main objective of this project was to convert the existing Taekwondo fighting hall into a world class strength and conditioning suite to service the needs of the athletes on the Olympic programme. Currently there are 26 athletes in full time training on the World Class Performance Programme.

The fitness suite flooring at GB Taekwondo played an instrumental part of the whole gym design concept. Each area within the gym has a flooring product perfectly suited to the specific training taking place there.

The free weights area is covered by 30mm Neoflex High Impact tiles. These are perfect for protecting the sub-floor from weights being dropped as well as the bars and plates being used by athletes. Blue, red and black tiles were used in this space to create a platform effect as well as to reinforce the brand colours present throughout the facility.

The main walkways and flexible spaces make use of flooring rolls and the sprint tracks running through the centre of the gym are made of track material.

The key to successful installation during this project was achieving a completely level floor height of 33mm while using floor coverings that varied from 10mm-30mm. The integration of these different types of flooring solution, along with the appropriate underlay and installation methods, makes this GB Taekwondo S&C facility one of the most interesting specialist fitness flooring projects we have delivered to date.

Working with Origin Fitness has been extremely positive from the outset, with clear communication lines and a commitment to deliver what was needed to meet our objectives, irrespective of the hurdles presented by operating within a live construction site.

The relationship with our Account Manager was key to ensuring that the right equipment and floor solutions were provided and the training space optimised. We would definitely recommend Origin Fitness to our colleagues in the Olympic and Paralympic performance family.

Steve Flynn, Operations Director, GB Taekwondo

As a result of the work Origin Fitness have carried out in partnership with GB Taekwondo, this training facility is able support the individual training programmes of all the high performance athletes working towards their goals in international competition. The high spec equipment chosen by the project managers for the site caters for the needs of elite athletes and provides an exception experience for any other users of the facility.

The S&C suite at the National Taekwondo Centre is undoubtedly one of the most exciting projects Origin Fitness has worked on to date and it is with great pleasure we will follow the successes of all the athletes based there in 2016.

Find out more about GB Taekwondo online at www.gbtaekwondo.co.uk and keep up to date with the athletes progress on Facebook.

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