Step In Style

A significant increase in options, variety and technological advances is making flooring materials more appealing, reports Shristi Nangalia

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There is an increasing trend toward making offices more welcoming and homey, and this carries through in the flooring design as well. A good floor should convey comfort, safety, aesthetics and sustainability at large. Many offices are trending toward open areas, with freestanding or floating workspaces and breakout spaces for collaboration. Flooring design concepts that break up these large expanses with contrasting colours and textures can create a visual sense of separation, while maintaining the inclusiveness of an open layout. “The tiles industry is in line with the garment/ apparel industry, where fashion trends are changing very rapidly, post digitalisation in tile printing process. The life of any design/ trend has reduced to a great extent, particularly in flooring application. Tiles are replacing marble, with bigger formats being available now which are maintainence-free. In 2017, the Indian tile industry witnessed bigger format tiles such as 1200x1800mm and so on, with digital printing that will replicate marble,” believes Sarat Chandak, CEO, RAK India.

Firdaus Variava, vice chairman, Bharat Flooring, states, “Designers have started using a lot of concrete materials, including patterned cement tiles and micro-toppings. Our Heritage tiles are seen across restaurants, hotels and commercial spaces, and the patterns used have started reflecting modern sensibilities with pastel colours, lots of geometric and minimalist designs, and some funky use of tile design to create ikat motifs. Cement based micro-toppings can be used indoors and outdoors to provide a clean canvas for decorative treatments such as stain, dyes, textures and stencil patterns.