Easigrass Johannesburg has provided an elegant and practical outdoor flooring and walling solution for the newly restyled frontage and motor cycle display area at BMW’s Rivonia Road showroom in Sandton.
The company fitted 362m2 of artificial grass in just 72 hours because an inspector from BMW in Germany was flying in to approve the completed project.
This was split into 229m2 of Easi-Knightsbridge for the wall frontage and 133m2 of Easi-Mayfair C-yarn for the flooring on the upstairs outdoor raised walkway.
“Mayfair C-yarn is our flagship product,” said Hennie van der Merwe, owner of the Easigrass Johannesburg franchise. “Its monofilament polyethylene composition is currently the best technology available for artificial turf and is by far the heaviest and most luxurious grass available in the country. C-yarn technology also ensures that this is our lowest maintenance product which stays cooler than conventional artificial grass. It is the most realistic by global standards and has excellent UV stability.”
“We used Knightsbridge, our most popular seller in South Africa, for the walls because the Mayfair was too heavy for use on a 6m high wall.”
“The beauty of Easigrass is that it literally transforms problematic outdoor areas, virtually overnight, into attractive, low-maintenance spaces that retain their aesthetic elegance all year round,” said van der Merwe.
All professionally installed Easigrass products carry a market leading 8-year warranty backed by international licensee, Van Dyck Carpets, who has been a household name in South Africa for 68 years. This is supported by a one-year workmanship guarantee from Easigrass where it is a franchise requirement for all staff to be trained to European standards.
The BMW project was completed on 8 April and involved several challenges, over and above the tight deadline.
“We worked till 10 pm the first night, and with extra orders added on that same day, we had to stop and wait for material to be delivered the next morning from Van Dyck Carpets in Durban and then carry on,” Van der Merwe said.
Then there were several technical aspects which ensured that it was far from a straightforward fitting. Special cut-outs had to be created on the flooring because the BMW specification prescribed that the motor bikes had to be displayed on a plinth made of timber. Because it was outdoors a timber tile was used.
The other technical challenge was that the grass wall covering had to be fitted around a large existing sign and vents in the wall.
“Firstly, it is very difficult working with gravity,” van der Merwe said. “We had to use a cherry picker to cut out the vents which was tricky because it had to be cut at 45 degrees whilst ensuring that the two pieces joined up perfectly.”
“Then we had to cut and trim around the air vents, windows and BMW sign which was already mounted on the wall and still make the grass appear as one solid piece. Fortunately our team is well trained and has had extensive experience on a variety of wall installations for Smooch frozen yoghurt outlets through our alliance with DMR Group. It was a very challenging installation but everyone was pleased with the result.”
Looking ahead, the Easigrass Johannesburg team tries to give all customers the ability to make sure their investment stays as good as it was on day one of the installation.
“We had a discussion with BMW’s facility manager and provided them with their own set of maintenance tools – a brush, vacuum and blower,” van der Merwe said. “We also trained them on the optimum use of the equipment so they could keep their grass in top condition.”
“The biggest plus in my eyes in using Easigrass is that we offer a maintenance program with each and every installation, so we still signed a maintenance contract with BMW to come out twice a year to check their silica sand levels and joints. This is part of our philosophy to try to make new friends of our customers and not just sell them grass.”
Gary Stephenson, Project Manager of DMR said that they were delighted with their new-look showroom exterior and were looking at doing similar installations at other BMW branches.
“We have worked with Easigrass for many years and have found that their service and quality are the best in the industry. We would recommend them to any type of customer – residential or commercial,” he said.
Easigrass was awarded the BMW contract through its alliance with the DMR Group, a turnkey company which partners with reputable subcontractors to offer a complete package of “concept to completion” for clients ranging from restaurants and retail stores to offices, car dealerships and residential homes.
A division of Van Dyck Carpets, Easigrass is the first and only artificial grass company to have achieved a Gold Medal at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show for its show garden demonstrating the many uses for the product.
