Flooring Stands up to Harsh Conditions

hallway flooring

nora flooring has proven its ability to stand up to high traffic volume and harsh winters at Syracuse University.

Founded in 1870, Syracuse University in New York educates a student body of approximately 21,000 each year. With 70 percent of students living in the school’s 22 residence halls, the team overseeing housing has much to consider as they work to keep dormitories comfortable, safe and up-to-date.

Searching for a floor covering that could stand up to high-volume traffic and the brutal Syracuse winters, while offering a streamlined maintenance routine, the team selected nora rubber flooring to cover dorm entrance areas, corridors, common spaces and stairwells. Over the past seven years, the floor has outperformed expectations. “The versatility of nora lends itself to many different spaces,” says Robert J. Spagnoletti, manager of maintenance.

Spagnoletti offers an example of the transformation that has taken place in dorm stairwells. “The stairwells were previously concrete with a tread,” he says. “The way the nora all-in-one stair tread piece fits over the existing steps was just perfect. Installation was simple and easy, dealing with one piece. The stairs don’t look industrial any longer; they just look nice, and the rubber adds an element of safety.”

The floor’s easy maintenance regimen, which eliminates the use of coatings and wax, played a key role in the selection of rubber flooring. “That was a main driving factor,” says Spagnoletti. “We found a good product that we don’t have to wax and strip.” Since its installation, the nonporous rubber flooring has proven it can stand up to anything and deliver on performance.

“Our biggest challenge is the winters and dealing with the snow and salt, keeping the salt down outside, but minimizing the trailing effect inside,” Spagnoletti shares. The flooring has performed so efficiently that the maintenance team is using spare tiles of nora as walk-off pads for elevators during the winter.

“We’re getting strong support from all of our directors. They see the areas where nora has been installed and are happy with how it’s worked,” Spagnoletti says.

nora.com/us

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Allegion US Partners with Two Colleges for Mobile Credential Technology

    Allegion US recently announced a partnership with Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and Denison College, in conjunction with Transact + CBORD, to install mobile credential technologies campus-wide, according to a news release. Implementing Mobile Student ID into Apple Wallet and Google Wallet will allow students access to campus facilities, amenities, and residence halls using just their phones.

  • Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School has been recognized with an EDS 2025 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

    The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

  • Designing School Spaces for A++ Performance

    In recent years, the educational world has gained greater appreciation for the ways a space’s aesthetics, just like its acoustics, can positively impact educational outcomes. Consequently, engineering, designing, and constructing a school environment demands acoustics to be equally an art and a science, requiring architects and designers to see with their ears, while acousticians must hear with their eyes.

Digital Edition