Project Overview:

At a massive 220,000 square feet, the Saville is one of the largest centers of its kind in North America, a community cooperative that provides facilities for “recreational athletes to Olympic champions.” That includes the competitive athletes of U of A’s CIS-winning basketball and volleyball teams (the women’s Pandas and the men’s Golden Bears), the esteemed Ortona Gymnastics club and the newly formed Edmonton Volleyball Centre Society. More than 130,000 square feet of industry-leading, high-performance Bio-Channel Classic was installed in nine NBA-sized courts and nine full-size volleyball courts — the sports that Bio-Channel Classic was specifically engineered for. Doug Haines at Clark Builders, who oversaw construction, said, “Robbins was chosen for the project because they are considered a leader in the sports flooring market, specifically the hardwood-floor segment and the Bio-Channel floor system. [Robbins dealer] Centaur Products was chosen based on their local workforce as well as their previous and ongoing relationship with the University of Alberta.” The response to the new center was immediately positive. Saville board representative Bob Butlin said, “The community speaks very highly of the hardwood floors and in particular, they are not experiencing any fatigue in their legs after playing; [there are] no dead spots. It is not uncommon to hear them say that ‘these are the best hardwood floors we have ever played on and we should have built the facility 10 years ago.’”

Proven Safety:

Coaches love the Bio-Channel Classic for delivering world-class safety that can be seen as well as felt. “We have had fewer instances of shin splints and the athletes love running on this surface. They love playing on it,” said U of A Panda’s basketball head coach Scott Edwards. Innovating ways of protecting players and thereby extending court time and career longevity is a cornerstone in every flooring system Robbins creates. Edwards revealed, “I think our playing surface is by the far the best we have seen. The quality of the floor has made a dramatic impact on our athletes’ health.”

Proven Performance:

With dozens if not hundreds of Canada’s finest athletes putting in workouts, practices and even competing at the Saville, installing ultra-high-performance sports flooring was paramount. The system’s Bio-Pad™ provides athletes the superior shock absorption, maximal lateral movement and dimensional stability they need — which means it’s not only safer for athletes’ bodies, but it boosts performance via more energy, better agility and longer gameplay.

Proven Winners:

As the industry’s premier anchored-resilient sports floor system, the Bio-Channel Classic was designed to match the feel of the athlete favorite All-Star Plus portable arena floor — used by NBA and collegiate teams for competition. Given it’s been proven to prolong and improve the quality of performance, it’s no wonder it’s the choice of champions: All of U of A’s sports teams have garnered the school the bragging rights of 73 national titles and being third in the number of CIS titles held.