Contract - July/August 2011 - (Page 32)

product focus change it up The Change Collection by Tandus Flooring provides an out-of-the-box modular carpet solution that addresses today’s more open workplace interiors For today’s open office environments, designers face the challenge of creating interest in spaces with wide floor plates. On the flipside, such interiors offer a broader canvas for creative expression. A new line of products from Tandus Flooring aims to expand the options for such open-plan settings. Introduced at NeoCon® 2011, the Change Collection comes in 12 colorways and three artful patterns—Change, Nonconform, and Factory Floor—all of which offer variations in texture, tone, and pattern without a limited, monotonous repeat. Change and Nonconform are available in a tile format as well as in Powerbond®, the manufacturer’s hybrid product that combines a carpet-like wear surface with resilient sheet flooring. Change modular tiles, partially and fully installed, demonstrate the fluid aesthetic created thanks to Tandus Flooring’s StratatecTM technology. their design efforts. After much trial and error, the designers discovered that Stratatec™, in addition to extending a pattern’s repeat width, could significantly increase the repeat length to create a fluid transition of design throughout the entire floor plan. “The true challenge was achieving a non-repetitive pattern,” Mowers says. “We had to find that complex balance between texture and color that offers a soothing flow without any noticeable shifts.” Playing with variables According to Terry Mowers, vice president and creative officer for Tandus Flooring, the key to the collection’s innovative patterns lies “not in thinking about motifs” but in focusing on the construction process to evolve Tandus Flooring’s Sero™ design approach. Sero™ allows the modular tile design to express itself across the entire floor composition as opposed to the single square tile. The Dalton, Georgia–based manufacturer first introduced this construction technique to the market in 2008 when it launched its award-winning Manufactured Landscapes™ line by Suzanne Tick. Manufactured Landscapes™ was produced using Stratatec™, a tufting technology with an increased capacity of 952 yarn ends, enabling a design to span the full 6-foot width of the machine before it’s subsequently cut into tiles. The process revolutionized carpet tile design by allowing the overall design to flow from square to square. After this initial launch, Tandus Flooring’s product development group continued to push the limits of Stratatec™. For the Change Collection’s designs, Mowers says Tandus gleaned insight from current scientific research on human perception and pattern visualization to improve “Unidirectional” installation As an added bonus, the expansive, organic designs allow the tiles to be installed in any direction without pre-planning or concern about repetition. It’s a new “unidirectional” installation method that offers designers ease and convenience. “The design community was looking for this—a way to open up the scale of the pattern to design for the whole floor plan. They don’t want to be limited to making a small square product work within an entire space,” says Tom Ellis, vice president of marketing at Tandus Flooring, who adds that the company is already working to fulfill several orders that were placed during NeoCon® 2011 for projects currently underway in Chicago, Denver, and Canada. —Stacy Straczynski Reader Service No. 277 32 contract july/august 2011 www.contractdesign.com http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - July/August 2011

Contract - July/August 2011
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Product Focus: Change it Up
Product Focus: Angling for Attention
Product Focus: (Good) Writing on the Wall
Product Focus: Come Together
Best of NeoCon® 2011
Making a Marc
Becoming Kate
Ray of Light
True Blue
Nature Speaks
A New Home
Bloomie's New Edition
Shring to Fitness
Practice: Smaller, Sustainable Retail
Trends: Retail Retrofit
Designers Select: Fabrics
Sources
Ad Index
Perspectives

Contract - July/August 2011