Focus: Products
From stone and wood effects to sustainable materials, nature provides the theme for our new product round-up
Words by David Tarpey
Back to nature
Natural themes dominate the latest floor coverings, from the beauty and character of wood to carpet tiles in stony tones and cool Nordic hues, and a modular offering in sustainable marmoleum
Shaw Contract has launched its 2018 Rapid Select carpet tiles. These are specially designed for modern, functional, commercial interiors. There’s a choice of shapes and styles. Featured in the photo is The Roam Tile (plank) in Stonegate, Shadow and Grey Mist, which Shaw says is the ideal flooring choice for quick turnaround projects. Other styles are called Nook and Graph, and all come in eight colour choices. The tiles are made in Scotland using Shaw Contract performanceengineered fibre eco solution Q nylon and TaskWorx backing.
Image Credit: BONA AB, SWEDEN
Bona has launched Bona Inspiration, a new floor styling system designed to give beauty and character to a renovated wood floor. The styles range from Natural Bright to Liquorice Black. The five new floor styles have been developed in collaboration with Swedish trend analyst and writer Cay Bond, who has 30 years’ experience in fashion, design and interiors. The Bona Inspiration concept includes a palette encompassing a range of interior design styles. Each style comprises a range of looks for the floor, which are achieved through a mix of Bona’s sanding and brushing methods, varnishes, oils and paints. The five styles include Nordic Shimmer, Garden Atmosphere, Malibu Dreams, Touch of Grace and New Modern. The examples shown here are Grace Vivid and Nordic Milk.
Milliken’s latest carpet tile collection is Tracing Landscapes. It displays gentle, free-flowing, non-geometric designs and has been created to fit effortlessly into a range of environments. It’s designed and made in the UK using high-performance Econyl.
Nordic Stories has been updated and extended to include 30 colour options, encompassing a range of light architectural tones as well as an exciting smattering of vivid hues such as bright oranges, vibrant, fresh greens and an elegant navy blue.
Designed and made in the UK, the collection was inspired by the dramatic beauty and strong contrasts of the Nordic nations. They range from the salt terraces and geothermal pools of Iceland to Denmark’s forests and archipelago. There are three complementary designs: Isograd, Tectonic and Hidden Plains, which can be used together or separately to subtly differentiate between areas and bring depth and interest to the floor plane.
New for 2018 at Interface is its Human Connections range. This includes Kerbstone and Flagstone carpet tiles. The Flagstone range comes in Slate, Stone Course, Teal, Orange or Purple Stone, textured stones or cool polished cement. The Kerbstone options are Slate Moss in stone, Kiwi, Limestone or Slate Edge.
The market’s most sustainable floor covering is marmoleum, and Forbo Flooring Systems has just revitalised its modular offering. It has introduced new colours, structures and embossed designs to help clients create simple but contemporary flooring schemes.
Made from 88 per cent natural raw materials, 76 per cent of which are rapidly renewable and with a 58 per cent recycled content, Marmoleum Modular is ideal for projects where sustainable design is top of the agenda. Its natural raw materials included linseed oil and flaxseed, which means marmoleum has a naturally low carbon footprint. The products are also phthalate-free, making for a healthier indoor environment.
The revamped collection is available in three tile and plank sizes in some 50 colourways across these ranges: Lines, Shade, Colour, and the two new embossed ranges of Textura and Slate. The Slate range features a naturally inspired texture that exudes sophistication, the pleasing aesthetic of stone with the warmth and purity of linoleum. Textura provides realistic wooden aesthetics with embossed grains that run the width of the plank. This is the first time that embossed finishes have been applied to the Marmoleum Modular format.
Meanwhile, the Colour collection now offers a palette of brighter colour pops, combined with a non-marbled structure, delivering pure colour options.
Egger has expanded its range of laminate flooring with Aqua+ technology from 10 to 18, featuring the latest in ceramic and woodgrain. The new range is part of the Egger Pro 2018-2020 collection, suited to both commercial and private interiors.
Woodgrains are available in a classic board format and feature 11 oak and walnut finishes. Material decors are available in a kingsize board format and include granite, stone and concrete finishes.
Like most of the flooring in the Egger Pro collection, the Aqua+ boards are installed using UNIfit, said to be 40 per cent faster than other systems. This, says Egger, is due to its flexible and floating installation technology that means no tools are required, and multiple installers can work simultaneously in one room.
