TREND REPORT: FLOORING
STEP ON IT Anu Lill at Bolefloor discusses trends in flooring technologies for the year ahead
Drawing a parallel between flooring trends in 2013 with fashion, we could say that an LBD with a twist and a ‘green’ touch is the new little black dress of the flooring world.
ue to the economical thunderstorm of recent years we are noticing that clients are first and foremost thinking of the price. The times of lavish and extravagant spending are over and people now really asking for good value. The task for the manufacturer is balancing all of these elements so that the result still reflects a high quality, innovative product that architects and designers would still be happy to work with.
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BE GREEN AND CREATIVE Flooring technologies have taken a big leap towards individual looks inspired by nature as well as artistic performance and a considered sustainable attitude during the production process. Ecology and sustainability are becoming more important, not only among solid wood producers, but even 6mm thick MDF for laminate flooring is being cut under angle to save
another five per cent of raw material. Thinner wear layers and bigger production efficiency is shown in low end, meanwhile quality requirements have increased and customer awareness has risen among high-end clientelle. Safe and controlled forest management aspect is becoming more and more important.
One-sided simple laminate or natural three strip oak surfaces have been changed to an array of designs and unique looks. Finishing has become more and more important because you can totally change the looks and feeling of a floor by playing around with different finishing oils, waxes or oil-wax. People either go for more natural look and feel of quality or prefer something very exclusive and artsy. Think of a rustic natural oak floor with natural oil finishing in a very modern building or a bright magenta pink floor in an industrial loft. Either way, designers and architects today think of floor as an essential element that sets the tone and feeling of the home as well as defines its inhabitants. Also, avant-gardism and being inspired by contemporary
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art is a trend. Surface treatments from saw marks down to chisel and bug defects are being created with high quality of craftsmanship. Just as an example, leather, textiles and jeans material are used as flooring materials now. For those who can afford something really exclusive and also very expensive,100 years old wood that has been treated by nature itself, is used in real high end and special flooring business. Untypical colours, such as tones of grey and black are used in very modern interiors and large spaces, conveying the feeling of Asian luxury and natural Zen.
NEW HIGH-TECH MANUFACTURERS Curiously, the rise of green thinking has pushed technological innovation. A totally new horizon for environmentally oriented architects has been opened by industrial live edge production by Bolefloor who makes naturally curvy wooden floors following the growth line of a tree while cutting the floor boards. This innovative technology combines wood scanning systems, custom-
made optimisation algorithms and placement software that places curvy floorboards in a flooring plan as a puzzle. The result is a unique, custom- made floor because no single floor board as a puzzle piece is similar to another one, so no two floors are alike, they are the way nature created them. The timber usage efficiency is significantly higher than straight-board solid floors, resulting in major ecological advantage, utilising timber around 20 per cent more of each sawn plank, leaving less waste on the sawmill floor. Just as Gutenberg’s invention literally freed the book from monastic confines, Bole’s technology makes natural curved-length flooring available at a price not considerably more than today's fine wood flooring. The key words for upcoming trends in flooring industry could be individuality, quality, ecological thinking, cradle-to- cradle thinking, authenticity and natural feelings, no polluting, natural fusion feeling of the interior in general in which the floor plays a large part.
www.bolefloor.com
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