Public & Community Tile Guide

Porcelain and ceramic floor and wall tiles are incredibly popular in public use buildings. This is because of the many qualities and benefits that tile posses. Tile allows designers to promote safe, eco friendly and specified flooring without sacrificing design. 

Tile is the preferred choice to adorn historically significant structures. Just take a look at any cathedral, church, castle or government house, most are decorated floor to ceiling with tile. Tile still dominates this area with most religious buildings installing ceramic or porcelain tile due to their beautiful design opportunities but mostly because of their high quality and established durability. 

Porcelain and ceramic tile is also prominent in all institutional buildings. Tile will endure constant and high foot traffic and any sport field muck students can offer. Whether it is in between lecture halls, the locker room or communal grounds, tile is stain and scratch resistant which ensures it low maintenance longevity, value for money for institutional organisations.   

Tile is also eco-friendly and promotes green living and sustainability, with most tile ranges accompanied with a green tick of approval.

Religious Premises

Visit any ancient cathedral and you will most likely see the building adorned in tile and mosaic tiles from floor to ceiling. Tile still exists and is prevalent in these buildings because of its durability and ability to withstand foot traffic and time itself without sacrificing design.

Porcelain and ceramic tile provides designs with the ability to create the divine atmosphere aimed for in houses of worship while still meeting all health and safety and regulatory requirements. 

Tile is available in a range of intricate patterns, designs, shapes and sizes to suit any design. Designers can decorate floors with mediterenean influenced designs, gothic prints or even custom print photographs and designs onto tile. Designs can also be implemented to reflect light, highlight areas of desired focus or simply act as a blank canvass for ornaments and other sculptures on the premises. 

Tile is durable. Tile is designed to resist moisture with a low porosity of 0.5%. This makes tile impervious to stains, water spills and bathroom mishaps. Tile is also incredibly strong with an MPA of 500 and with an equivalent hardness to Topaz and Quartz on the Hardness Scale. This makes tile able to withstand abrasive dirt, foot traffic and the moving of heavy objects. 

These qualities are important not only for the daily and routine use of religious premises but also for the community events and emergency centers that these premises often become hosts too.  

There are no specific anti slip ratings for religious premises. However any wet areas or food preparation areas would need to abide by local anti slip requirements for public areas. This is most commonly an R10 rating for food preparation and a R9 for wet areas such as bathrooms.

Educational & Institutional Buildings

​Design a durable and clean building to inspire our next generation of leaders.

While tile offers durability and safe flooring solutions with its range of anti slip surfaces and textures, designers to dot have to sacrifice fun, style or design when using tile. Tile can line the hallways with geometric tiles to inspire mathematicians or decorate walls with colours to create a fun or relaxed atmosphere for students. 
​
Tile promotes healthy living and is eco- friendly. Eco-friendly flooring solutions are important for places where youth spend most of their time. Tile offers a hypoallergenic flooring solution, making it resistant to mould and bacteria. This means that tile will not hinder any individuals suffering from allergy issues. 

Tile is also fireproof. Tile offers a fire resistant flooring solution that will not catch fire. This means tile will not emit toxic gasses or smoke during a fire and ensure a clear exit pathway during a fire emergency. 

Tile is durable. Tile is designed to resist moisture with a low porosity of 0.5%. This makes tile impervious to stains, water spills and bathroom mishaps. Tile is also incredibly strong with an MPA of 500 and with an equivalent hardness to Topaz and Quartz on the Hardness Scale. This makes tile able to withstand abrasive dirt from sporting fields, foot traffic and the moving of desks and chairs. 

The CSIRO HB197 and Standards Australia AS/NZ 4586 require the following specific anti slip ratings for tiles in schools and kindergartens:

• Entrance halls, corridors assemble halls: R9
• Classrooms, group rooms: R9
• Stairs: R9
• Toilet, washrooms: R10
• Instructional kitchens in schools: R10
• Kitchens in kindergartens: R10
• Machine rooms for woodworking: R10
• Special rooms for handicrafts: R10
• Undercover concourse areas of sports stadium: R10

When it comes to flooring, it is critical to get it right from the outset. By choosing tile, designers will ensure they have provided a product that is strong enough to be walked on every day without wearing or fading. Tile is good value for money with a long life cycle. It is important to consider the flooring choices over initial and long term investment, to not get this right is disruptive and expensive to operating costs and the public use of facilities.