Sprung floor
Encyclopedia
A sprung floor is a floor
that absorbs shocks, giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best available for dance
and indoor sport
s and physical education
.
They enhance performance and greatly reduce injuries. Modern sprung floors are supported by foam backing or rubber feet, while traditional floors provide their spring through bending woven wooden battens. Many dance halls with sprung hard wood floors date back to the early 20th century, such as the Willowbrook Ballroom
in Chicago (1921), the Crystal Ballroom
in Portland, OR (1914), and the Carrillo Ballroom in Santa Barbara, CA (1914).
This article deals mainly with the basic requirements and construction of sprung floors. See performance surface
for more on customization for different activities.
Modern sprung floors are designed to dampen bounce and so are sometimes called semi-sprung. A spring floor on the other hand is a type of floor designed to provide bounce; they are used for floor exercises in gymnastics
or for cheerleading
.
. That term, though, more often refers to a floor that insulates against noise or a raised floor
with ducts and wires underneath, as in computer facilities.
The top layer of a sprung floor is a performance surface
. In dance this may be replaceable to suit different styles; such surfaces are often also called marley floors or dance floors. Here the term floor surface or just surface is used.
A sprung floor excluding the surface is often referred to as the sub-floor, though this may also refer to the concrete or other floor under a sprung floor.
The term speed refers to the traction (kinetic friction
) of performance surfaces: fast describes a slippery surface, and slow describes a higher-traction surface, like a gym floor.
or a dance floor are the same. They should encourage optimum performance and be safe. There are many differences between what would be the best floor for various sports and forms of dance. However, the requirements are similar enough that one can have a floor suitable for general use; exceptions, such as judo
, generally involve the use of additional mats on top of the flooring.
This article deals mainly with requirements which are common across different disciplines. The performance surface
article deals more with customization for different activities.
These basic requirements are covered in more detail in the standards listed below.
Additionally, many such floors are multipurpose. For instance, a community hall might be used for play groups and old-age groups, for dances, aerobics and sports, and for seating for plays. The floor may have to support heavy objects like pianos. There may also be requirements for ease of cleaning and maintenance. Cost of repair after damage by vandals
or stiletto heel
s is also a consideration. Note that the necessity to serve multiple purposes can often be eased by the use of a gym floor cover
to protect the floor.
There is no combined safety standard applicable to multiple situations, such as for playground
surfaces, sprung floors, or use in old-age centers, but a specification that conforms to a minimum sports or dance standard should be adequate to prevent serious injuries (e.g. broken bones) for children falling from 2 feet (0.6 meter), as from a toddlers table, or hip injuries in the elderly.
Sprung floors come in a few major types:
The construction may be built into the area, or it may be composed of modules that slot together and can be disassembled for tours.
Performance halls should be designed and built with sprung floors in mind. A depth of at least 10cm should be allowed for the floor. This can be a major constraint when laying a sprung floor in a hall not designed for it. Most can accommodate a maximum of 5cm, and some sprung floors designed for refurbishments are as low as 3cm. Ramps for wheelchairs will be needed at the doors. If the ramp is outside the hall, the doors will need the bottoms trimmed off (easing) and their height will therefore be reduced. Ramps can have a 1 in 12 incline at most and they may also need a safety zone around them. Thus if the floor is 5cm deep, the ramp should be 60cm long or more. The underfloor needs to be made flat either with levelling cement, very careful trowelling, or by using shims and a layer of masonite. Any new cement must be allowed to dry for at least a month. A membrane vapour barrier should be used to prevent moisture from the ground.
A semi-traditional floor would have wood battens laid on pads made of neoprene, which is more durable than rubber. Pads are typically laid 40cm-50cm apart and are 1cm-2.5cm thick. Then more wood battens are put on top at right angles, halfway between the pads. A traditional floor might have three layers of this springing. Then two layers of plywood are placed on top, offset by 45-90 degrees so that the joints don't match up. The plywood spreads the load. Finally, the actual surface is made from a layer of strong, durable wood like oak, beech or maple, or other types of wood that are covered with a vinyl surface. There may also be provision to prevent the floor from depressing too much if a very heavy weight is placed on it.
There should normally be a fairly wide gap between the floor and the wall to allow for expansion and to allow air to circulate. This is often covered by a skirting board or molding, to make the gap less apparent. It is because the floor is free-standing rather than connected to walls or joists that it is also referred to as a floating floor.
The performance surface
is normally of vinyl
or hardwood
, engineered wood
or laminate
. For dance the surface may be replaceable, so that a theatre can adapt easily to either ballet
or tap dance
.
nightclub
s, including Rotterdam
's Club Watt, have installed sprung floors which help generate power for their music and lightshows. The floors are suspended on transducer
s that act like shock absorber
s. To absorb the energy produced by dancers, piezoelectric
crystals are used. When compressed, these crystals charge nearby batteries
.
A closed cell is like a balloon - the air inside cannot escape and the pad is bouncy and returns most of the energy put in. A pad with many small closed cells may also be referred to as a foam
, but typically only a single large closed cell is used, as the cell can expand sideways and so provides characteristics more like a long spring
.
Open cells have small holes which let the air inside escape and tend to dissipate the energy input. A pad with many open cells may also be referred to as a sponge
.
As with everything to do with sprung floors, a combination of types is often used. A core of softer durometer may have a harder outer layer shaped so that heavy falls encounter more resistance instead of 'bottoming out' to a concrete subfloor. This also protects against deformation by heavy weights like pianos.
s started being generally used for sub-floors. Before then floor
s were mainly either earthen
or used wood on joist
s, both of which provide some cushioning from shocks. Early sprung floors often used leaf
or coil spring
s, whence the name; these floors tended to bounce, but modern floors have suppressed this 'trampoline
' effect and so are often called semi-sprung.
The earliest references on the web seem to be:
Many sprung floors were installed for dance soon after 1900 in places like embassies, hotels, and private clubs. Use of sprung floors exploded with the opening of large public dance halls between 1920 and 1945.
The use of sprung floors for sport date to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; before then floor exercises were performed on grass. Spring floors for professional acrobats probably date long before this.
Floor
A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology...
that absorbs shocks, giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best available for dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and indoor sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s and physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
.
They enhance performance and greatly reduce injuries. Modern sprung floors are supported by foam backing or rubber feet, while traditional floors provide their spring through bending woven wooden battens. Many dance halls with sprung hard wood floors date back to the early 20th century, such as the Willowbrook Ballroom
Willowbrook Ballroom
The Willowbrook Ballroom is a dance ballroom and banquet facility located in Willow Springs, Illinois along Archer Avenue. It was founded in 1921 by John Verderbar and named Oh Henry Park. Today, the ballroom continues to host ballroom dancing events with a live orchestra weekly...
in Chicago (1921), the Crystal Ballroom
Crystal Ballroom (Portland, Oregon)
Crystal Ballroom, originally built as Cotillion Hall, is a historic building in Portland, Oregon, United States. Cotillion Hall was built in 1914 as a ballroom, and dance revivals were held there through the Great Depression...
in Portland, OR (1914), and the Carrillo Ballroom in Santa Barbara, CA (1914).
This article deals mainly with the basic requirements and construction of sprung floors. See performance surface
Performance surface
A performance surface is a flooring suitable for dance or sport. Performance surfaces are normally laid on top of, or are part of, a sprung floor to produce a complete dance floor or sports floor....
for more on customization for different activities.
Modern sprung floors are designed to dampen bounce and so are sometimes called semi-sprung. A spring floor on the other hand is a type of floor designed to provide bounce; they are used for floor exercises in gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
or for cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
.
Terminology
A sprung floor is also sometimes referred to as a floating floorFloating floor
A floating floor is a floor that does not need to be nailed or glued to the subfloor. The term floating floor refers to the installation method, but is often used synonymously with laminate flooring in a domestic context....
. That term, though, more often refers to a floor that insulates against noise or a raised floor
Raised floor
A raised floor or access floor are types of floor that provide an elevated structural floor above a solid substrate to create a hidden void for the passage of mechanical and electrical services...
with ducts and wires underneath, as in computer facilities.
The top layer of a sprung floor is a performance surface
Performance surface
A performance surface is a flooring suitable for dance or sport. Performance surfaces are normally laid on top of, or are part of, a sprung floor to produce a complete dance floor or sports floor....
. In dance this may be replaceable to suit different styles; such surfaces are often also called marley floors or dance floors. Here the term floor surface or just surface is used.
A sprung floor excluding the surface is often referred to as the sub-floor, though this may also refer to the concrete or other floor under a sprung floor.
The term speed refers to the traction (kinetic friction
Friction
Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and/or material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction:...
) of performance surfaces: fast describes a slippery surface, and slow describes a higher-traction surface, like a gym floor.
Requirements
The basic requirements for a sports floorFloor (gymnastics)
In gymnastics, the floor refers to a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The event in gymnastics performed on floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is FX.A spring...
or a dance floor are the same. They should encourage optimum performance and be safe. There are many differences between what would be the best floor for various sports and forms of dance. However, the requirements are similar enough that one can have a floor suitable for general use; exceptions, such as judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
, generally involve the use of additional mats on top of the flooring.
This article deals mainly with requirements which are common across different disciplines. The performance surface
Performance surface
A performance surface is a flooring suitable for dance or sport. Performance surfaces are normally laid on top of, or are part of, a sprung floor to produce a complete dance floor or sports floor....
article deals more with customization for different activities.
These basic requirements are covered in more detail in the standards listed below.
- Like a good race trackRace trackA race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...
it should have just the right amount of give; it should not be too hard, which causes repetitive strain injuriesRepetitive strain injuryRepetitive strain injury is an injury of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems that may be caused by...
, or too soft, which is tiring. - It should be even and flat with only small variation in characteristics across the surface.
- It should be springy and return energy to lift the feet when moving, but not too springy like a trampoline.
- It should absorb the energy of falls and reduce injuries.
- It should have appropriate traction: too much and the foot might twist when turning, too little and it can be dangerously slippery.
- There should not be any sideways movement. Sideways movement hampers balance, which is why very thick pile carpeting can be dangerous for the elderly (thick underlay, however, is good).
- It should be primarily ‘area elastic’ rather than ‘point elastic’. It should depress more like a wooden floor than a sponge rubber one – but the effect should not extend too far and the surface layer can be point elastic.
- It should be easy to see action on the floor: it should not be too light or dark.
- It should be neither too noisy nor too quiet in use.
- It should not become dangerous if liquid is spilled on it, and it should be easy to clean up such spillages. This is a major cause of injury.
Additionally, many such floors are multipurpose. For instance, a community hall might be used for play groups and old-age groups, for dances, aerobics and sports, and for seating for plays. The floor may have to support heavy objects like pianos. There may also be requirements for ease of cleaning and maintenance. Cost of repair after damage by vandals
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
or stiletto heel
Stiletto heel
A stiletto heel is a long, thin, high heel found on some boots and shoes, usually for women. It is named after the stiletto dagger, the phrase being first recorded in the early 1930s...
s is also a consideration. Note that the necessity to serve multiple purposes can often be eased by the use of a gym floor cover
Gym Floor Cover
Gym floor covers can either be a carpet-based protection system or is a large plastic tarp, similar to a painters tarp, usually divided into equal sections wide each to cover up the entire gym floor...
to protect the floor.
There is no combined safety standard applicable to multiple situations, such as for playground
Playground
A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...
surfaces, sprung floors, or use in old-age centers, but a specification that conforms to a minimum sports or dance standard should be adequate to prevent serious injuries (e.g. broken bones) for children falling from 2 feet (0.6 meter), as from a toddlers table, or hip injuries in the elderly.
Construction of a sprung floor
There is a FAQ on 'Build your own dance floor' on the web.Sprung floors come in a few major types:
- Traditional wood basket-weave
- Wood with high durometer neopreneNeopreneNeoprene or polychloroprene is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene. Neoprene in general has good chemical stability, and maintains flexibility over a wide temperature range...
pads. Sometimes both basket-weave and neoprene pads are used. - Foam rubber with a wood or other area elastic layer on top
- A few sprung floors use actual springs - the special spring floors used by cheerleaders and tumblers often have coil springs under them.
The construction may be built into the area, or it may be composed of modules that slot together and can be disassembled for tours.
There should normally be a fairly wide gap between the floor and the wall to allow for expansion and to allow air to circulate. This is often covered by a skirting board or molding, to make the gap less apparent. It is because the floor is free-standing rather than connected to walls or joists that it is also referred to as a floating floor.
The performance surface
Performance surface
A performance surface is a flooring suitable for dance or sport. Performance surfaces are normally laid on top of, or are part of, a sprung floor to produce a complete dance floor or sports floor....
is normally of vinyl
Vinyl
A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...
or hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
, engineered wood
Engineered wood
Engineered wood, also called composite wood, man-made wood, or manufactured board; includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding the strands, particles, fibers, or veneers of wood, together with adhesives, to form composite materials...
or laminate
Laminate
A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common parlance refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an...
. For dance the surface may be replaceable, so that a theatre can adapt easily to either ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
or tap dance
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
.
Generating power from dance
A number of greenGreen politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s, including Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
's Club Watt, have installed sprung floors which help generate power for their music and lightshows. The floors are suspended on transducer
Transducer
A transducer is a device that converts one type of energy to another. Energy types include electrical, mechanical, electromagnetic , chemical, acoustic or thermal energy. While the term transducer commonly implies the use of a sensor/detector, any device which converts energy can be considered a...
s that act like shock absorber
Shock absorber
A shock absorber is a mechanical device designed to smooth out or damp shock impulse, and dissipate kinetic energy. It is a type of dashpot.-Nomenclature:...
s. To absorb the energy produced by dancers, piezoelectric
Piezoelectricity
Piezoelectricity is the charge which accumulates in certain solid materials in response to applied mechanical stress. The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure...
crystals are used. When compressed, these crystals charge nearby batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
.
Open and closed cells
The neoprene pads used in sprung floors may be described as having open cells or closed cells. A cell is a void inside the neoprene, which may be a single cell or a network of small ones.A closed cell is like a balloon - the air inside cannot escape and the pad is bouncy and returns most of the energy put in. A pad with many small closed cells may also be referred to as a foam
Foam
-Definition:A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping gas in a liquid or solid in a divided form, i.e. by forming gas regions inside liquid regions, leading to different kinds of dispersed media...
, but typically only a single large closed cell is used, as the cell can expand sideways and so provides characteristics more like a long spring
Spring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
.
Open cells have small holes which let the air inside escape and tend to dissipate the energy input. A pad with many open cells may also be referred to as a sponge
Sponge (tool)
A sponge is a tool, implement, utensil or cleaning aid consisting of porous material. Sponges are used for cleaning impervious surfaces. They are especially good absorbers of water and water-based solutions....
.
As with everything to do with sprung floors, a combination of types is often used. A core of softer durometer may have a harder outer layer shaped so that heavy falls encounter more resistance instead of 'bottoming out' to a concrete subfloor. This also protects against deformation by heavy weights like pianos.
Standards
The same standards are applicable to dance as to sport. These describe minimum standards suitable for a general purpose hall. The ranges of parameters are wide enough to cover optimizing most special purpose halls as well:- EN 14904 is a new European standard which will replace European national standards. This was used for the World Cup in Germany, and covers both sports and dance halls. It also deals explicitly with some special purpose floors. The British Sports Council has a leaflet about it.
- DIN 18032 part 2 was the German standard and was for a long time considered best practice.
- BS 7044 part 4 was the British standard for artificial sports surfaces. This has been superseded by BS EN 14904: 2006.
History
There doesn't seem to be a researched history of sprung floors. There would not have been much perceived need until recently, when concrete slabConcrete slab
A concrete slab is a common structural element of modern buildings. Horizontal slabs of steel reinforced concrete, typically between 10 and 50 centimeters thick, are most often used to construct floors and ceilings, while thinner slabs are also used for exterior paving.In many domestic and...
s started being generally used for sub-floors. Before then floor
Floor
A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology...
s were mainly either earthen
Earthen floor
An earthen floor, also called an adobe floor, is a floor made of dirt, raw earth, or other unworked ground materials. It is usually constructed, in modern times, with a mixture of sand, finely chopped straw and clay, mixed to a thickened consistency and spread with a trowel on a sub-surface such...
or used wood on joist
Joist
A joist, in architecture and engineering, is one of the horizontal supporting members that run from wall to wall, wall to beam, or beam to beam to support a ceiling, roof, or floor. It may be made of wood, steel, or concrete. Typically, a beam is bigger than, and is thus distinguished from, a joist...
s, both of which provide some cushioning from shocks. Early sprung floors often used leaf
Leaf spring
Originally called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles...
or coil spring
Coil spring
A Coil spring, also known as a helical spring, is a mechanical device, which is typically used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces...
s, whence the name; these floors tended to bounce, but modern floors have suppressed this 'trampoline
Trampoline
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes....
' effect and so are often called semi-sprung.
The earliest references on the web seem to be:
- The New Zealand Prime Ministerial home was rebuilt soon after 1872. The rebuild included a ballroom with a sprung floor and New Zealand's first elevator.
- A purpose built dance hall with a still functioning sprung floor was built in the Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati in 1885.
Many sprung floors were installed for dance soon after 1900 in places like embassies, hotels, and private clubs. Use of sprung floors exploded with the opening of large public dance halls between 1920 and 1945.
The use of sprung floors for sport date to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; before then floor exercises were performed on grass. Spring floors for professional acrobats probably date long before this.