Get floored!
ELEMENTS OF STYLE Until a few years back, flooring used to be the last design aspect to be considered on an architect’s to-do list. However, all that has changed considerably and today the choice of flooring has changed completely, in terms of colours, designs and patterns, writes Bindu Gopal Rao
Modular flooring popular in commercial establishments are changing the rules of the game as far as flooring is concerned. So what exactly is modular flooring? Simply put, this is a flooring solution which works in a module of certain repeatable sizes, called a modular floor and is raised or floating from its true floor using modular pre-manufactured tiles as a surface.
“One of the major advantages of such flooring is all the building services such as electrical wiring, cabling and in case of cold climates, building heating systems get easily accommodated underneath the flooring and can be accessed for maintenance by simply removing a tile and fixing it back. Modular flooring is meant to reduce the installation time, reduce work at the site and specifically reduce wet-treads, (application oriented water and cement based work) and allows more ready-to-use factory-finished products making it less prone to bad workmanship at the site unlike traditional flooring tiles,” says Jayant Vaitha, Head, Architecture and Design Division, Synergy Property Development Services.
Solutions
InterfaceFLOR is the market leader in this space with its offering of carpet tiles. Lindsey Parnell, CEO & President, InterfaceFLOR in Europe, Middle East, Africa & India, says, “we come out with two new launches a year – typically spring and autumn launches and our latest collection is themed after fairy tales! We see the trend towards more linear three-dimensional textured designs.”
Square Foot has engineered, solid-wood flooring and outdoor decking with a locking system which is modular and can easily be installed and removed as well if need be. RAK Slim is a versatile solution for a variety of tiling requirements. The size of the tile has helped deliver significant cost savings.
Floor graphics, often called floor decals, are the latest trends to change the traditional flooring process of any premise. Hewlett Packard offers both roll to roll latex based large format printers which print on flexible substrates including cast vinyl and Scitex based flatbeds which print directly on all rigid substrates like wood, tiles, glass, and ceramics and so on to create a print and besides offer the pre and post coating process along with which ensures a complete safety to the buyer.
Says Vishal Malhan, Chief of Marketing, Fevicol division of Pidilite Industries Limited, “We have a water-based adhesive called Fevicol VC 31 used for VCT (Vinyl Composition Tile), vinyl rolls, linoleum tiles, speciality sports flooring, etc. These flooring options comes in both tile as well as roll/sheet form and can be laid on an existing floor, some of them are high end luxury types.”
Traditional vs modular
Traditional floorings need to be installed using adhesive and are stuck to the sub floor. The flooring is not stuck to the sub floor but stuck to itself and placed on the sub floor. This is for hassle free expansion and contraction of floor.
“This type of flooring is easy to cut, drill and handle and can be used on any existing flat surface. It is easy to install as an outdoor or indoor wall tile and can be used over existing wall coverings or to create completely new wall coverings as compared to traditional flooring. One of the major advantages of modular flooring is the ability to replace the squares and tiles. If you have a piece that becomes damaged, soiled, stained or torn, you can either temporarily remove it or replace it completely with a new one.
Traditional flooring repair is time consuming and difficult. The ability to create unique designs and looks is a feature of modular tiles that very few other traditional flooring options have. Multiple tile patterns and colours can be used to make custom layouts in the floor. Some designs use similar colours and patterns, while others use two colours that contrast each other. You can even find modular flooring that is made to use multiple tiles that form a larger pattern,” opines B G Vyas, President, RAK Ceramics India.
According to Puneet Chadha, Director, Graphic Solutions Business, Imaging & Printing Groups, HP, “traditional flooring is often fixed and permanent whereas the digitally print floor can be customised as per the variable designs and themes which can be changed time to time.
“The process of replacement is simple and involves less efforts and time. Digitally printed floors remain vibrant due to print and need less maintenance.”
Going green
Modular Flooring Systems are made from materials which are eco-friendly and carry the necessary certifications for the same, whether a floor panel made of particle board, a nylon-based carpet or an engineered wood panel.
Carpets and other accessories such as sub base, glues are generally made from recyclable materials and environmentally harmful and toxic material like formaldehyde, PVC, bitumen and carbon black are generally avoided. “Squarefoot has always put environmental concerns first and ensures that most of our partners are either FSC or PEFC accredited. So, while making our products, we ensure that we do not harm the
environment.
As much as 75 per cent of our range comes with a PEFC or FSC label.
Basically, factories we buy from are certified factories, and wood and bye products are sourced from controlled forestry thereby ensuring we do not harm the environment in any way.
These are depleting resources, so it’s very important to buy certified products so as to decrease the impact of global warming,” says Gaurav Saraf, Director, Square Foot. Sustainability is a core part of this business.
Says Parnell, “we use more renewable energy, recycled raw materials and recycled petrochemicals and have reduced our carbon footprint by 50 per cent since 1994.” Incidentally InterfaceFLOR’s mission is to have a zero carbon footprint by 2020.
In spite of its advantages, the cost of modular flooring systems is still exceptionally high compared to a traditional system making its usage limited to a few critical exceptions.
Local manufacturing in this segment is negligible and almost all available systems being imported making it un-affordable at times and comparatively offers less value for money in this segment.
However, with growth in residential development, if more options are made available to the residential end-users, this segment will grow at a rapid rate driving the building material industry to manufacture such flooring making more choices available to the end users.
Raj Menon, Country Manager India at InterfaceFLOR says, “it is mandatory that the entire environment is air-conditioned before using carpet tiles. This could pose a challenge as far as residential spaces are concerned.”
However the market is certainly looking up and hospitals, hospitality, turfs and a host of high end residences are sure to keep this segment buzzing with activity.
