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INTERIORS
about socialising and building relationships. However, despite many positives, these engaging and warm designs are not without drawbacks. Apart from the wider debate circling the need to accommodate introverts as well as extroverts in the modern office, one of the most significant challenges is a practical one. With less sound-absorbing surfaces and fewer floor to ceiling divides within the space, noise is certainly a factor that designers are acutely aware of. There’s certainly nothing more off-putting or infuriating than excessive background noise during a Teams or Zoom conference, and noise is well documented as a contributory factor in stress and having an adverse effect on productivity.
Designers use furniture, panels, booths and absorbing fabrics to provide as many opportunities for isolation as possible, but as the largest surface within the interior, the floor can also be used as a key acoustic isolator. Indeed, with the dominant use of carpet tiles in working areas designers have been doing this by default, but the move to multiple flooring types within offices may see additional guidance needed in the use of flooring for noise reduction. Certainly, as a relatively recent development, awareness of these solutions needs to be improved.
For example, engineered LVT with built-in acoustic underlays can significantly reduce the noise of footsteps and movement while still providing a natural look that supports the design goal for a home- like feel. In turn this makes it easier for designers to create multi-use areas, maybe even letting them explore working spaces that also use LVT as a primary floor covering and negating client concerns over hard surfaces being noisy.
The growing prominence of wellbeing in the workplace and its impact on morale and productivity is another contributory factor in the adoption of these new office design principles and it should also be recognised as a strong indicator of future design direction. The move to flexible and hybrid working, the rise of agile offices and a focus on wellbeing have been largely beneficial for flooring. In combination, they have certainly fuelled new interest in how flooring can be used to support design goals of agility, while also meeting the practical demands, including a need to deliver acoustic, productivity-focused performance across more than just carpet tiles.
Alistair Shove is commercial sales manager at IVC Commercial
TPS360 ensures success of project
The Swansea Arena has been described as the ‘crowning jewel’ of a £135m regeneration of the Swansea marine frontage. The fi rst thing anyone will notice as they enter the foyer of the building is the very impressive polished concrete fl oor. In fact, there are 1,633sq metres of polished
concrete throughout entrance and the main concourse. “This is polished concrete with a difference – a distinctive red, high gloss fi nish, with aggregate exposed,” says Mark Jackson, TPS360’s Sales Director for the Central, North and East Regions. “It does look absolutely stunning and it was achieved without the use of acrylic or any other top layer.
0345 026 8780
www.tps360.co.uk ADF05_TPS360_Interiors - Floors & Floor
Coverings_PR.indd 1Osmo, a sustainable wood fi nish
28/04/2022 16:04
The foundation of Osmo wood fi nishes is based upon purifi ed and refi ned natural
resources which
are carefully harvested into natural oils and hard waxes. Osmo products contain natural vegetable oils and hardwaxes to help nourish the wood and retain fl exibility. Depending on the product, they might include: linseed oil, sunfl ower oil, soybean oil as well as thistle oil and natural hard waxes. Furthermore, our extensively cleaned pigments have been approved for use in the food industry. At Osmo, we have an FSC-Certifi cation, so you can be reassured that the product is not just good for wood, but good for the environment too.
01296 481220
www.osmouk.com
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
ADF05_Osmo_PR.indd 1
ADF MAY 2022
26/04/2022 09:40
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