Sourcing digitally printed textile flooring offers specifiers endless opportunities to curate and provide unique, high performing interiors. Within the ever-evolving world of interior design and rising expectations across sectors such as workspace, leisure and hospitality, strong, appealing interiors are in greater demand. Think hotels, restaurants, social clubs, leisure halls; all environments with busy footfall and traffic that demand more from the user experience.
With interiors becoming more important for aesthetic appeal, designers must look to solutions that attend to all the criteria of a practical yet visually interesting space. As flooring is one of the largest surfaces in any building it seems only right to be the first place to start.
DIGITAL PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES
With technology constantly improving, design opportunities are evolving with it, and thanks to new processes such as digital printing, flexibility and visual choice have expanded massively. Vital within the hospitality and leisure sectors, digital printing increases a flooring’s suitability to a space.
Whether a hotel looks to emanate the aesthetic feel of its location or restaurants are aiming to entice customers in with on-trend photogenic visuals, interior design choices (particularly regarding flooring) are becoming more important within commercial environments.
Digital printing introduces a brand-new angle into flooring designs. With the additional opportunity to combine endless creativity along with practicality, designers can incorporate patterns, textures and colours in ways like never before. With no limit on technical geometrics or nature-inspired patterns, flooring can help tie the entire interior together or act as a stand-alone ‘wowfactor’.
EXPANDING OPTIONS WITH TEXTILE FLOORING
While digital printing techniques are not a new phenomenon in flooring, thanks to the rise in popularity of flocked flooring specifiers now don’t have to choose exclusively between either the comfort of carpet tiles or the durability of vinyl. This evolution within the world of digital print flooring increases value for commercial spaces by introducing maximum underfoot comfort, as well as the endless design flexibility. Taking this further still and the modular format offered within some digitally printed textile flooring supports a variety of installation pattens, from herringbone to ‘brick’, as well as allowing seamless integration between both planks and larger tiles – further increasing design flexibility and adaptability.
DELIVERING ON DURABILITY
Of course, there are other considerations to keep in mind beyond just how a flooring looks. In hospitality and leisure environments, where comfort and design are key, but traffic is high, conditions are intense and food and drink spillages are likely, presenting a challenge for traditional carpet flooring. Instead, with flocked flooring’s waterproof backing and rapid drying performance combined with its extreme durability and stain resistance, this solution checks off each aspect of a high-performing yet aesthetically pleasing floor offering.
The high-tech straight nylon fibre structure of flocked textile flooring ensures the easy release of captured dust and allergens during cleaning, compared to typical loop and cut pile carpets. With a density of up to 80 million nylon 6.6 fibres per square metre, specifiers can achieve both the digital design and the functional performance necessary in high-traffic, demanding spaces.
FLOTEX PLANKS
Forbo’s refreshed Flotex Planks flooring collection is a unique, digitally printed textile floor covering that combines the durable characteristics of a hard and resilient flooring alongside the warm and relaxed feel of a carpet, all in a modular format.
The collection showcases seven digitally enhanced designs across the Woven and Stone ranges, with more design options coming soon. Thanks to the precision of digital printing, Flotex achieves intricate detail far beyond standard tufted carpet tiles, enabling architects and designers to create distinctive visual schemes. Between the current ranges, inspiration has been drawn from the variation of textures, materials and natural elements, expanding suitability across numerous sectors and commercial environments.
Forbo’s Flotex flooring elevates any space with style and unique performance and is the only textile flooring to be awarded the Allergy UK seal of approval. It not only brings elegance to a space but also is a perfect offering for sound absorption, with a 21dB impact sound reduction. Flotex seamlessly blends aesthetics and functionality, transforming busy, chaotic areas into relaxing, calm environments.
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