But this was no ordinary dining room - it was an 800 square metre indoor courtyard with a pressure-controlled inflated membrane roof, and underfloor heating.

So a combination of specific movement joints and appropriate adhesive was needed to guarantee the long-term integrity of the installation at the 1,200 pupil Elizabethan High School in Retford. 

To withstand the rigours of  hundreds of hungry children descending on the kitchen and dining area every day, the tiles chosen were heavy duty 400 mm x 400 mm Pilkington Urban. But Telling (Finishings)' Contracts Manager Graham Hayes says additional essential protection was needed to prevent the tiles becoming damaged by movement.

"There are many types of movement joints available in the market place, but if the one used isn't capable of doing what is demanded of it, the tiles can still crack and debond from the substrate." However, he says that selecting from world market-leader Schlüter-Systems' extensive menu of essential tiling protection solutions was an easy choice. "Our specification called for independent tile fields to be created with the Schlüter-DILEX-AKSN. Specific joints are required for specific types of application, and this particular movement joint was absolutely right for safeguarding these tiles from the degree of movement they are likely to undergo."

The installation was completed with the use of Ardex Flex 5001 grey flexible adhesive, and Ardex Flex FL grout. Graham Hayes says: "Just as the movement joint has to be absolutely right for the application, so does the adhesive and grout. These two were selected because of their excellent application properties and track record in the education sector."

The Elizabethan was one of six schools, along with two post-16 colleges and two leisure centres built by Balfour Beatty under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme for Nottinghamshire County Council.