The OEC Sheffield

Towards the end of 2019 we had the privilege of working on a project at Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield. Owlerton Stadium is a purpose-built speedway track built in 1929 which also hosts greyhound racing on a regular basis. Popular with families, couples and colleagues, the Stadium provides a range of packages available in the Restaurant, Executive Boxes and trackside, with capacity for 4,000 spectators across the whole site.  

The stadium is a popular place in Sheffield for a night out with different forms of entertainment like Greyhound Racing, Speedway Racing and Stock Car Racing events and has three bars inside. Owlerton Stadium has to make sure the range of bars, lounges and restaurants which are offered there, all of which have viewing available for all the events, are modern, comfortable and practical.  

The majority of this project was using a woven carpet from Desso, called Axminster. This carpet has a huge offering of different design options and colour possibilities as well as being durable for high traffic areas. We used this patterned carpet in the lounges, hospitality boxes, meeting room and entrance foyer which totalled to approximately 1,000m². The pattern which was chosen by our client and was bespoke, therefore we had to make sure that the patterns were laid in the correct direction and matched up exactly as per the architect’s drawings.  

Along with this broadloom carpet we used two other Desso carpet tile ranges in other areas, we used a Metallic Shades patterned tile in the office and lobby areas and we also used a secondary barrier matting tile, Desso Protect, for the entrances and a corridor. Along with secondary matting, we fitted a circular primary entrance matting from EMCO to the main entrance situated under a revolving door.  

Additionally, we used a variety of colours of an anti-slip vinyl flooring from Polyflor for use in the service corridors, behind the bar, in the kitchens and in the WCs. This was a safety vinyl with high durability and slip resistance which is perfect for areas where there are risks of water spillage and other contaminants.  This was fitted with a 100mm vinyl upstand included cove formers and capping strip making it easier for these areas to be kept hygienic.  Before laying these areas, we applied a DPM as there were areas with a high moisture content that needed some extra protection.  

It was a really enjoyable experience to work on the Owlerton Stadium and our client was extremely pleased with the final result.