Forbo Flooring Systems' unique and comprehensive product portfolio has brought to life a striking new refurbishment project at LeasePlan UK, Berkshire, where a wide range of Forbo's textile and resilient products have been specified aspart of an exciting modular flooring solution.
“The objective of the project was to reflect the company’s corporate identity in the interior design of the building,” explains Mark Crick, Design Director of Crisp Designed Ltd, designers and installers on the project.
“The overall workplace atmosphere was very important and the brief was to ensure the staff felt good about coming into the building - that they got a buzz in the working environment, which would increase staff interaction andproductivity.”
In order to create a lively and inspiring environment, Crisp’s clever use of the floor space was a key part of the major refurbishment. Combined with this, was the attention to detail in the chosen surfaces and furniture to ensure the design theme conveyed the personality of the business; projecting a modern, forward-thinking organisation befitting the major European leasing company.
Mark continues: “It was very unusual for me to specify from one flooring supplier as there are so many varied manufacturers and products to choose from. However, the diverse range of products on offer and the sheer scope for integration and modular propositions was so attractive to us, we couldn’t look any further.”
The end result has seen over 5,000m2 of floor coverings specified from across Forbo’s Tessera and Westbond carpet tile, Allura luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and Eternal project vinyl ranges. Colour and pattern are integral to the overall design helping to bring vibrancy into the space, so bright and bold furniture products were chosen. To complement this, a dark textured, subtly patterned base colour of charcoal and grey, was specified,thus allowing a highlight feature colour to be incorporated into the design – achieved using the client’s corporate shade of orange.
Multi-height loops give the distinctive Tessera Alignment floorcovering a bold directional theme, which is tempered by the introduction of intersecting random blocks of rich cut pile. Perfectly suited for large spaces, Crisp Designed chose the dark nucleus colourway for all the open plan areas, injected with a daring tangerine accent shade, Sirius, from the Alignment highlight collection - complementing the orange colour furniture perfectly.
Westbond is a sophisticated, premium quality fusion bonded tile, in which the yarn is fixed directly onto the backing material, resulting in an extremely dense and luxurious product. This deluxe carpet was chosen for the reception and executive meeting rooms, both of which demanded a rich and indulgent texture. Recognising that colour is an intensely personal experience, Westbond can perfectly match any shade, to the client’s exact specification. For Leaseplan, a bespoke black pepper based was created with a sprinkling of orange ginger to continue theoverall feature colour.
Tessera Helix carpet tiles were then coordinated into the design theme for the stairwell,adding interest with its understated linear design which, when fitted quarter turn or tessellated, can deliver rich texture and visual appeal to large open floorspaces.
To infuse a feeling of vivacity into the interior, ensuring the staff felt more relaxed within the space and most importantly, providing focal points on the floor,trend colours from Allura LVT range were chosen. The architecturally developed Allura abstract wood designs, some of which include a characteristic metal highlight, sees the collection take on a much more contemporary and stylish feel. Crisp Design specified the Spring Forest stripe design to take centre stage in the project for all breakout and kitchen areas. Meanwhile, Eternal Wood Warm Zebrano was installed in the restaurant, on the fourth floor of the building, due to its durability and maintenance properties.
“The end result is fantastic - a striking mixture of bright colours and eye-catching textures in a completely contemporary and modular fashion, which has definitely fulfilled the original vision,” comments Mark. “Installing so much product from one supplier meant the service and delivery from Forbo was key to fitting in to the demanding time schedule and we were very impressed with the ease of installation, reasonable price and professionalism from Forbo. Project changes that were driven by the client throughout the duration were achieved and met within the programmed timescales of each floor; all with the help of Forbo’s sales and technical teams, as well as their impressive delivery capabilities.”
“Overall, this was an extremely successful project with stunning results. The original project grew from improving space planning in just one department to a full office design and refurbishment of the entire building. The project was phased over 9 months as staff had to remain in situ without disruption to LeasePlan” explains Sarah Orford-West, Head of Facilities at LeasePlan UK.