Laura Light, concept design leader at Interface, talks us through what we can expect from flooring trends and how to easily deliver them for your customers.
THE past year has seen a huge amount of change and everyone has had to adjust in so many ways. As we look towards 2022, it finally feels like we’re reaching a point where we can begin to think about the future more clearly, with a renewed sense of positivity. And it’s set to be an exciting time, with new trends emerging in office design.
Resimercial
You might be wondering what resimercial means. Split the word in half and you’ll have your answer. It’s all about blending residential with commercial to bring a sense of home comfort into the office to make spaces warmer and more inviting. This is particularly important when you think about the businesses that are trying to get their staff back through the doors after such a long time working from home.
To create resimercial spaces that prioritise homeliness and wellbeing, it’s vital to think about products with softer curved lines and varied textures in more muted tones to create warmth and flexibility. For example, fading bold hues which transition into soft, relaxing greys are perfect for both office or education projects, to inject a flash of colour into an installation.
To complement softer, textured flooring, you could opt for LVT (luxury vinyl tile), which can deliver the perfect combination of style and practicality to give you the flexibility you need.
Warm minimalism
Another key trend that is growing in post-pandemic commercial design is warm minimalism.
This is all about making people who use a space feel grounded and connected with nature. This look can be achieved through muted tones and simple finishes. For example, warm oatmeal and mushroom tones can be used to achieve a simple, yet sophisticated aesthetic while peach and muted pink shades can create a sense of calm and serenity.
Connecting with colour
The trend towards warm minimalism, also extends to a wider consideration of colour in spaces and how these can be used to create spaces that can help improve concentration or boost wellbeing. Over the next twelve months, we can expect deep blues and forest greens to become hugely popular. They align well with the principles of biophilic design, which introduces elements of the outdoors into spaces to positively impact the people using the space.
Climate conscious spaces
You’ll have heard a lot about what governments need to do to meet targets around climate change following COP26 in Glasgow in November last year. There’s also a lot of pressure on businesses to help deliver on those goals, and a big part of that involves rethinking the way we build and fitout developments like offices to make sure they’re not causing damage to the world around us.
At the moment, over a third of businesses don’t measure their own impact on the environment and nearly a quarter don’t have a formal environmental plan, according to a survey by RMS UK1. That’s all going to change. In future, companies will be forced to show their plans for a low carbon future – so if they want to get ahead of the curve, they can start by looking at how to reduce the footprint of their spaces now. This means the demand for sustainable products is only set to increase, so you need to know how to tick those boxes for your customers – ideally at no extra cost to them or you.
We recently launched our first collection to feature carpet tiles that are carbon negative from cradle-to-gate. They feature our CQuestBioX backing, which allows the tiles to store more carbon than ever before, preventing it from entering the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. So, for projects where sustainability is a must, opting for ranges such as this shows your customers you understand their goals and it improves your own credentials.
But it’s not just our latest collection that allows you to deliver on sustainability. All our carpet tile, LVT, and nora rubber flooring products are carbon neutral across the full product lifecycle. By fitting carbon neutral products, you’re helping customers to reduce the carbon footprint of a space.
By staying up-to-date with these emerging trends, you can keep up with customer demand and ensure you’re offering the best service. However, we know that when it comes to fitting flooring, it’s not just about being able to offer products that look good, it’s about ensuring the products you’re fitting are simple to install, easy to maintain and stand the test of time.
Opting for manufacturers who offer modular products which are easy to install without transition strips, and come with a long lasting guarantee, means you’re able to leave every project knowing you’ve fitted a beautiful, durable and high-quality design.
www.interface.com
