Caledonia Gladiators

The new home arena of Scotland’s only top-flight basketball side Caledonia Gladiators recently opened its doors to much praise and fanfare. As well as adding a world-class arena to the local area, the new building flies a flag for a more circular economy. 

 

The new arena, based at PlaySport Scotland in Stewartfield, East Kilbride, is fitted with a reclaimed wooden sports floor. The beech sports floor made by solid wood floor company Junckers had a previous life in the large, multi-purpose sports hall at the University of Birmingham. 

 

When the sports hall hosted the squash matches at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, parts of the floor were lifted to accommodate temporary bleacher seating. The partial removal affected the floor’s 25-year warranty, so the Games offered to replace it. 

 

As the original sports floor was in perfectly good condition, flooring contractor Courtcraft got in touch with specialist company Hargreaves Reclaimed Flooring through Junckers’ Reuse Scheme. Hargreaves lifted and prepared the floor, ready to be installed at PlaySport Scotland by Lanarkshire-based McGarry Flooring, with MJ Courtmarkers adding the Gladiators’ logo and lettering. Instead of ending up on a landfill site, the floor was given a new lease of life and will serve the club and local community for many, many years to come, contributing toward a more circular economy.

Floors made in solid wood are well-known for their long lifespan. They can be sanded and refinished many times to restore them to as-new condition. Using reclaimed sports flooring is a very popular option in bars, workspaces and residential buildings; reusing a floor for a high-performance sport such as basketball where shock absorption, ball bounce and player safety are paramount is testament to the floor’s exceptional longevity. 

With the introduction of the Reuse Scheme, Junckers aims to make sure hundreds of square meters of wood flooring is reused and repurposed every year. The scheme works in two ways - by connecting flooring professionals replacing a wood floor with specialist reclaimed flooring companies as well as putting customers looking for reclaimed flooring in touch with companies who hold stock.