accents and are also offered in 25cm x 1m formats. Meanwhile, Simple Does It and Positive Spin both provide versatility, pairing texture and contrast with speckled and cubed designs. These styles are available in 50x50cm formats. ‘We created Dressed Lines to address
the versatile needs of our customers,’ says Oakey. ‘At one end of the spectrum are very subtle subdued styles that work best in open areas; at the other end are bolder, more complicated designs that make for great accent or focal points.’ Oakey works from his Pond Studios.
Designed by Elva Rubio and built in 1996, in Georgia, US, the 15,000ft2
structure is
situated within six acres of forest, and features skylights and windows oriented to the seasonal movement of the sun, with most of the glazing facing north to avoid summer heat build-up. A geothermal system controls heating and cooling. There’s also a cantilevered deck overlooking a pond, after which the studios are named. When summer comes and the vegetation thickens, the building is ‘pretty much in a cocoon’. ‘We love our building. We love to go to
work there,’ says Oakey. ‘Today, people need to think of the workspace as a destination, not as a place that you have to go to. It needs to be like a beautiful hotel with a view – whether it’s over the sea or the mountains. You have to
have a space that not only looks great, physically, but has amenities where you want to be every morning. ‘And we’re connected with nature,’ he
continues. ‘It’s a beautiful place to be, mainly because of the biophilic influence. We enjoy it every day we come in.’ Oakey is well-versed in the role that nature
can play in design. In 1994, Ray Anderson, the founder of
Interface, set the company on path towards embracing sustainability. It was around that time that Oakey was introduced to a book called Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, by Janine M Benyus. The author became a mentor and friend. The combination of both events changed
Oakey ‘completely’ and led eventually to the creation of Interface’s I2 Entropy carpet tile in 2000, and subsequently several natured- inspired designs since. ‘It was really about learning from nature,’ Oakey has said about the I2. ‘We had the first workshop ever at [the studio] with Janine Benyus and her group. They asked the question: how would nature design the carpet tile? ‘Everything in nature is diverse and
different – so we started to think about as a team how we could make a carpet tile that was slightly different.’ For Oakey, nature-inspired design –
whether it’s biomimicry or biophilia – is about how people feel in a space: ‘There’s enough scientific evidence to know that when people spend more time in nature, they feel different. Like the old Victorian hospitals in London – there was as much design for the gardens as the hospital to get patients outdoors. ‘We know we feel better close to nature.
We live in these artificial interiors – whether it’s your home, your car, an ofice – where we have lights that don’t change, we have indoor temperatures that stay exactly the same. Can you bring some of that natural feeling into an interior – whether you want to bring plants or design with natural elements? ‘Outdoors, the colour changes from
morning to night, from day to day, from year to year. We have flowers in the spring. All those elements would be great to bring to the interior. My dream one day is that the interior space will feel just like you took a walk and that you have that breeze in your face – and you say, ‘well, that felt good’. ‘How you do it? Technology? I don’t know
how, but whatever you do, as far as bringing more natural elements to the interior space, the better it can be.’ With so many years of working in the
industry behind him, the obvious question to ask is just how he remains motivated to keep producing new carpet tile designs? The answer is that he and his wife – and
trend analyst – Cindi Marshall Oakey love to travel and soak up inspiration. ‘We love to go to exhibitions, we love to go
to trade shows,’ he says. He admits to occasionally thinking he might be suffering from a creative block. ‘And then, the next day,’ he says, eyes sparkling, they see somewhere, such as Arabia Mountain – part of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, in Georgia, US, which his son insisted he visited during the era of Covid – and the creativity begins to flow again. Long may it continue.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101
