Continental provide consultancy, design and fit-out bespoke rebound therapy rooms. From recessed trampolines to wall and floor padding we have a solution for you.
What is rebound therapy?
Rebound Therapy describes a specific methodology, assessment and programme of use of trampolines to provide opportunities for enhanced movement patterns, therapeutic positioning, exercise and recreation for a wide range of users with additional needs.
Increasingly important in SEN schools and for rehabilitation, bespoke rebound therapy rooms can be a favourite room for children in any new school.
What is involved in fitting out a rebound therapy room?
The main elements of a rebound therapy room are:
Continental manufactures trampolines, wall padding, podiums and cushioned flooring and is therefore ideally placed to provide a complete fit-out service for your rebound therapy room.
What type of trampoline is installed?
There are two options for the type of trampoline:
What type of bed is best for rebound therapy?
We recommend Continental's own "UltraMesh" beds for rebound therapy which is a material and bed design we developed specifically in conjunction with ReboundTherapy.org - they are high-grip, wipe clean and are available in black, grey, red, light blue, dark blue and green - samples of the UltraMesh colours are available here. We make standard size UltraMesh beds to suit a 77 trampoline and we manufacture bespoke UltraMesh beds for bespoke trampolines. Please note that the widest UltraMesh bed we can make is 1,950mm (to suit a pit 2,560mm wide). For larger bed areas such as for a 99 trampoline we recommend a 13mm wide nylon web bed.
ReboundTherapy.org recommend we incorporate a contrasting border to the perimeter of the bed to assist visually impaired users to discern the edge of the bed and to help avoid their hands and feet reaching the springs or causing a trip under the pads. This contrasting border will be BRIGHT GREEN unless specified otherwise.
What coverall padding is provided on the trampoline?
The trampoline is provided without standard coverall pads, but instead specially extended coverall pads are manufactured to suit the room that extend over the springs and frame and onto the surrounding floor.
Do I need a recessed pit or a raised podium?
To accomodate a trampoline in a rebound therapy room, you will require either:
How high should my room be?
There is a wide range of abilities of users of rebound therapy rooms and guidance should always be sought from the end user as to their requirements.
Our standard guidance is that for ambulant students there should be a minimum of 4m above the bed of the trampoline - so a 5m high ceiling for a floor mounted trampoline or a 4m ceiling height for a pit mounted trampoline.
For non-ambulant users the facilty should undertake a specific risk assessment in accordance with the needs of the students and the facility. This risk assesment should also consider the needs and role of the teachers - For example: the risk assessment for a standard height room might state that only non ambulant children who have to be hoisted onto the trampoline should have access to the trampoline and teachers taller than, say 5'6" should not stand on the trampoline; they should only sit. Anyone shorter than 5'6" can stand but their feet must not leave the bed at any time when demonstrating, supporting or assisting.
What do you put on the walls?
For areas where there is a risk of a user or carer coming into accidental contact with a wall we recommend wall padding is installed. We manufacture removable PVC covered padded wall panels that are fixed to the walls using timber bearers and velcro (panels must be easily removable in the event of accidents / damage). Some customers continue that padding for aesthetic consistency to all walls even when the risk of contact is negligible.
The PVC used for coveralls and wall padding is washable and is available in a range of stock colours (blue, red, green, yellow, jade, white) and a huge range of some 23 "special" colours - the full range of PVC colours we have available is here.
What flooring is necessary?
We recommend cushioned flooring is installed throughout the room. Our Tribond foam and carpet material is ideal. It is 35mm thick and can be glued directly to a concrete floor. It is cushioned but sufficiently firm to provide a soft flooring for people to sit on or undertake activities on, but has a firm enough carpet surface to allow wheelchairs to move on it. Tribond is available in a range of colours including grey, blue, green and black - the full range of Tribond colours is available here.
As an alternative we can provide PVC covered foam matting on the floor but please note that it is harder (or impossible) to move wheelchairs on such a surface.
What about harnesses and hoists?
We do not supply or install those but we have supply chain partners who can offer those items to suit your requirements as part of a turnkey solution.
What are the next steps?
Please contact us for a quotation for a complete fit-out of your rebound therapy room. We need the dimensions of the room and door locations - and ideally a decision on whether you will provide a recess below floor level or if you want us to create a raised podium - and we can make a proposal for the rest. We can provide 3D simulations of the finished room so you can ensure it meets your requirements. Please also refer to the Rebound Therapy Association for more assistance.
For Specifiers / architects:
When planning your rebound therapy room, it is important to ensure the following:
The most common size of trampoline for rebound therapy is Continental's 77 Series, but some centres with sufficient space prefer the larger 99 Series. The size and shape of your room or the necessity for suitable space to the side of the trampoline may require a bespoke solution if a standard 77 or 99 will not fit. The pit sizes necessary for the two sizes of standard trampoline and the minimum size of a bespoke solution are shown below:
77 Series |
99 Series |
Bespoke |
|
| Pit length (mm) | 4,680 | 5,280 | 3,510+
(no max for UltraMesh bed. 5,280 max for web bed) |
| Pit width (mm) | 2,800 | 3,100 | 1,910+
(2,560 max for UltraMesh bed. 3,100 max for web bed) |
| Pit depth (mm) | 1,050 | 1,200 | 750+ (up to 4m x 2m pits)
1,000+ (up to 4.75m x 2.75m pits) 1,200+ (for larger pits) |
| Bed length (mm) | 3,600 | 4,280 | 2,900+ |
| Bed width (mm) | 1,800 | 2,140 | 1,300+ |
Minimum trampoline size: The absolute minimum bed size for a recessed trampoline approved by the Rebound Therapy Organisation is 2,900mm x 1,300mm x 750mm deep which requires a pit size of 3,510mm x 1,910mm.
"Standard" trampoline sizes: The table above shows the dimensions if you use a standard foldable 77 Series or 99 Series trampoline in a recess for rebound therapy. This is to allow use of legacy trampolines. We do not provide a 77 or 99 standard trampoline for new projects (primarily due to access and manual handling issues) but instead construct a bespoke trampoline on site.
Bed type restriction: The preferred bed type for rebound therapy is UltraMesh. The widest we can manufacture an UltraMesh bed is 1,950mm (with no restriction on length) which corresponds to a maximum pit width of 2,560mm. For beds between 1,950mm and 2,140mm wide we can manufacture web beds and for beds wider than 2,140mm we can use Permatron up to 3.5m wide. There is no restriction on the length of an UltraMesh bed or Permatron bed, but web beds can be a maximum of 4,280mm long.
Continental's recommended trampoline size: Users may require specific size trampolines and beds, but absent any preference we suggest a trampoline that is as wide as possible subject to it being compatible with an UltraMesh bed. This results in our recommended pit size of: 4,650mm long x 2,550mm wide x 1,000mm deep. This results in a bed size of 4,050mm x 1,950mm
