Based in Blackburn, St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form.
It caters for pupils aged between 11 and 18. The school made contact with The Grass Factory because it wantes to investigate the feasibility of using artificial grass to replace a large area of worn-out natural turf adjoining the main playground. The brief was to provide a natural-looking artificial grass that would tolerate regular foot traffic.
The worn grass was dug out to leave a firm, level base. Our team then fitted a tanalised timber framework, along with a concrete edging adjoining the existing concrete kerb edges. A ground-stabilising membrane was then applied, followed by a 50mm layer of MOT Type 1 aggregate and a 25mmlayer of granite dust. These layers were then compacted to achieve a level surface for the grass. The grass was cut in round the existing trees and joined, where required. We also applied a resin-bound rubber mulch around the trees to provide a flexible, clean-looking finish.
The new lawn acts as an attractive boundary region between the car park and school, and provides a natural-looking surface for play and recreation.
