If you own a building that has a very busy entrance, only the most durable and reliable of entrance mats will do. Not only do you want all building users to enter safely, but you do not want something that gives a bad impression by showing serious signs of wear.
Some buildings won’t need heavy-duty matting, because the number of people entering or leaving on any given day is low. However, if the building is large, the entrance is wide and footfall copious, the need for durable entrance matting cannot be ignored.
Schools are a good example of this. According to government figures published last year:
- There were 24,479 schools in England alone
- These were attended by 9,032,426 pupils
- This works out at 369 pupils per school
Allowing for absences, this means the typical school will have around 350 pupils using its entrance on nearly 300 days a year. Even if they only use it to enter in the morning and leave in the afternoon, that is 210,000 entrances, plus those made by staff and visitors.
How Much Footfall Do The UK’s Biggest Shopping Centres Get?
Shopping centres may be another good example. Figures published in 2022 revealed that the annual footfall at the Westfield Stratford shopping centre in London was 51 million a year.
Other very busy shopping centres included:
- The capital’s other Westfield Centre, in Shepherd’s Bush, with 39 million
- Manchester Arndale had 40 million visitors
- Footfall at the Bullring in Birmingham was around 39 million
- Eldon Square in Newcastle had a footfall of 36 million
Other busy buildings like offices, hotels, libraries and leisure centres will similarly have huge numbers of people using the entrance. As an owner, you don’t want a faulty entrance mat to cause accidents, nor do you want it to look worn and tatty, especially in commercial settings.
The key point to understand is that buildings need to be welcoming and create a good first impression. In a school, failure to do so could create an intimidating environment. In a commercial setting, it could drive away potential customers, clients or business partners.
Why Are Intrasystems Mats Ideal For High-Footfall Entrances?
This is why using products such as intrasystems entrance matting can make a crucial difference, providing you with safety, durability and value for your investment. There are several great choices to meet these requirements:
INTRALink is a prime example of the kind of product that can meet multiple requirements. Made with 12 mm interlocking tiles, it is very durable and comes with a five-year warranty. It can also boost your green credentials as it is made from recycled material.
INTRAflow offers another option, being designed for high-traffic areas with its heavy-duty aluminium composition, which is specifically designed to drain away any moisture. This could make it ideal for a building entrance when people walk in from rain-soaked streets.
It is listed as being useful for locations such as shopping centres and other retail facilities, commercial offices and transport hubs. It has a ten-year warranty.
For even more durability, the INTRAflow Plus heavy-duty drainable aluminium entrance matting is even more effective at dealing with wet conditions at the entrance, preventing that moisture from being dispersed inside the entrance. It comes with a 15-year warranty.
If there is one thing you can be sure of is this: no matter how durable you need your entrance matting to be, we have mats that can meet the challenge.