Healthcare Design - February 2018 - 31

Healthcare Design: Where did the lichen inspiration come from-was it an aesthetic element or
its role in nature that attracted you?
Jason F. McLennan: When
I was a young boy, I used to
hike in the hills around my
house in Northern Ontario.
The landscape was quite barren-except for lichen and
moss that grew all over the
rocks. It was the only thing
soft underfoot, so I felt it
was "nature's carpet." When it was time to design the
product, I recalled these memories. I've always found
lichen to be incredibly beautiful-yet overlooked-so
the inspiration to bring awareness about lichens and
the important environmental roles they play was important. In this case, both the beauty and the biophilic
aspects inspired me.
How did you develop this very specific look?
McLennan: My team generated designs and then
we collaborated closely with Mohawk to bring its
new manufacturing developments to life. The great
thing about the product is that each color represents
a different species of lichen, with a distinct growth
pattern and pile height-so it's not merely "swapping" colors; it has more layered meaning. The customer can customize it further by specifying how
much lichen versus rock substrate they want in their
flooring solution. The aesthetic range then becomes
very large, and you can transition from color to color
across large areas, as well.
The collection is the first carpet to receive Living Product Challenge Petal Certification. Was it
Mohawk's intent initially to create a highly sustainable product or was that the result of your
collaboration?
Jackie Dettmar: When the
Living Product Challenge
was launched, we knew we
wanted to pursue the certification based on all the work
we had done on our Declare
labels and the Living Building Challenge experience at
our Light Lab, the Mohawk
Group design center. So that decision came first, and
then we thought, "Who better to work with us on the
design of a Living Product than Jason McLennan, the
founder of the challenge?" We did an opening charrette with the International Living Future Institute
at our Glasgow, Va., manufacturing facility to review
the Living Product Challenge and all that it entailed.
After that meeting, we could see a path to achieve the
certification.

What was the design process like once you added in the sustainability
requirements for the Petals program to the aesthetic concept of lichen?
Dettmar: As we were working on the Lichen designs for the aesthetics of the
product with Jason, we were also developing a new heathered yarn system that
reduces our water needs and processing steps. We wanted to use this process
to manufacture the Lichen collection. Mohawk Group's design team worked
closely with McLennan Design to create the colors needed to tell the Lichen
story and also answer designers' needs for transitioning colors through interiors. We were on a tight timeline to achieve our launch at NeoCon 2017, but we
were able to work quickly and efficiently with Jason and his team.
How did you identify naturally occurring lichen (colors, textures, etc.)
and apply that to the carpet?
McLennan: McLennan Design works closely with a biologist named
Juan Ravalo. He and others on my team (like Jason Wilkinson) then
searched through a variety of different species that had different stories,
so to speak, in terms of how they grew and what they looked like when mature. We then overlaid multiple options with an approximate color palette that we thought would have commercial appeal, along with working on a substrate that was a mix of gray colors we felt the industry would
like, as well. At this point, the Mohawk team then began running samples and test runs that we looked at together, refined, and refined again.
Dettmar: To make the different lichen structures, we needed to use a new tufting technique that we call "pattern perfect tufting," which allows precise placement of each color. We worked hard to show how the different species grow.
Some grow more out of the rocks, and some species grow low and slick against
the rock surface. We could use different pile heights and pattern placement to
replicate those structures, and each colorway is a different pattern that mimics
how that color grows in nature.
What makes this carpet product a fit for the high demands of healthcare
settings?
Dettmar: It's a very versatile collection with soft colors and a biophilic pattern
that creates tranquil healing spaces. With a variety of colorways and the ability to control how much and where color is used, it's also very effective for wayfinding. Additionally, carpet tiles are very functional in a healthcare setting as
they can be changed out, if needed. The random nature of the patterns makes
the ability to change out single tiles more appealing.
What else stands out to you about this collection?
Dettmar: As part of the Living Product Challenge, each manufacturer must
look at how to create a positive effect on the world (a handprint) to offset the
footprint of the resources used to create the product. For example, for every
gallon of water used to create a square yard of Lichen carpet, we had to find a
way to save a gallon of water. First, we innovated yarn and material choices to
use the least amount of water possible in our manufacturing. Then, to create
the gallon of saved water, we engaged in a three-year conservation strategy
with Morehouse College in Atlanta, where we retrofitted 140 dormitory showerheads with low-flow fixtures.
The collection is already on track to give more back to the environment than
it takes during its entire life cycle. Lichen is a perfect marriage of sustainability
and biophilic design, existing as a concrete example of how companies can create positive change in the world.
Jennifer Kovacs Silvis is editor-in-chief of Healthcare Design. She can be reached at
J E N N I F E R . S I LV I S @ E M E R A L D E X P O . C O M .

FEBRUARY 2018

Healthcare Design - February 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - February 2018