Stoas College of Education Wageningen

Bolidt News

Stoas College of Education Wageningen

The new building of the Stoas College of Education, a college dedicated to the development of learning and education in the green sector, was recently opened in Wageningen. BDG Architecten Ingenieurs based the design on the characteristic teaching philosophy adhered to by the institute. Summarised concisely by the term 'ecological intelligence', this vision rests on the premise of interconnection. The same idea has been extended to the complex design of the flooring that Bolidt has installed here.

BDG had full confidence in Bolidt due to previous collaborations and so they called in its expertise for this project as well. An architect from BDG worked together with Bolidroom, Bolidt’s design lab, to develop a floor pattern inspired by the motif of a mycorrhiza: a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. The motif represents the interconnection that is central to Stoas’ teaching philosophy as mentioned above.

Just like the interconnected agricultural subjects that are taught at Stoas College, the roots and the fungi enable each other to develop, allowing the fungus to grow form an extensive network within the soil. This concept is clearly reflected in the installed Bolidtop^® Sensation flooring system.

Bolidtop^® Sensation is a floor finish system that is characterised by the fact that it offers infinite artistic possibilities. Trails of dots representing cells of different sizes have been incorporated in this floor finish, as if they were clusters of oyster mushrooms in nature.

The last point also represented the greatest challenge. According to the design by BDG Architecten, each cell had to be in a fixed position and the execution of the design had to be accurate to the centimetre. By extensively experimenting with the design in the Bolidroom together with BDG Architecten, Bolidt managed to transfer the design one-to-one to the floor. The design and the architect’s idea behind it have flawlessly merged into the final floor finish, which has helped to create a good synergy between the progressive teaching philosophy and a stimulating learning environment.

In addition to the Bolidtop^® Sensation in the central spaces, Bolidt has installed the Bolidtop^® 700 College in the cooking room. This durable flooring system has been specially developed for the education sector. The finish is slip resistant and easy to clean. Since the flooring requires no periodic maintenance in the form of waxing or sealing, Bolidt provides a 10-year guarantee on this floor finish, at no additional cost.