Techniques

Rolls are 200 cm wide, so most rooms need at least one seam. A seam is not a butt joint: a liquid cold weld is run into the joint and sets hard, welding the woven face and the PVC backing together. The finished seam sits flat and stays closed under traffic instead of opening up.

Layout is planned before installation so that crosscut seams fall outside the main sight lines. Cold welding glue can be supplied with the order on request. Cut edges that are not welded are knife-cut, and self-binding is available where a mat or a rug needs a finished edge.

Wallcovering hangs with the same seam logic, but on the wall the joint is a wrapped, trimmed butt seam rather than a weld. Upholstery is cut and sewn, and the fabric can be supplied bare for direct application.

The acoustic tiles have a felt backing that takes the edge off impact noise. Impact noise is footfall, trolleys and chair castors. This is a measure of what the floor does to noise generated on it, not a measure of how much sound the surface absorbs.

Sound absorption is αw 0.05 to EN ISO 354, measured on the wall to wall construction and quoted as the reference for the tiles, whose own test is pending. In plain terms, the tiles are an acoustic floor product and the work is done by the backing, on impact noise; absorption is low on both builds, so a reverberant room is treated at the ceiling and walls.

The work is done by the backing: a 2.2–2.5 mm vinyl backing with fibreglass and an acoustic felt layer. Tiles are die-cut, so a single piece can be lifted and replaced after damage.

Colour is solution-dyed into the yarn, so it goes right through the fibre rather than being printed on top. That is why the surface resists fading and why cleaning does not take colour out of it.

Four yarns do the design work: two-tone yarn for the grain of natural plants, metallic colour yarn for metal and mineral tones, fluorescent yarn for the translucent look of sky in sunlight, and translucent yarn for running water and glacier ice.

Because the yarn is two-tone and the weave is ours, each roll carries its own organic marks and quiet tonal variation. Our specification sheet states it plainly: this product simulates natural materials, and variations in texture and colour are inherent characteristics, not defects. For one project, order the whole area from a single production run so the tones sit together; order a sample first and look at it in your own light. Colourways are on the collections page.

Light ageing is tested to ISO 4892-3:2016 Cycle 1, lamp type UVA-340, at 1,000 hours: the flooring and mat lines rate Grade 4, the upholstery and wall lines Grade 4–5. The yarn is UV-stabilised, which is what allows mats and outdoor furniture to be used in and out of doors.

Colour fastness is reported to BS EN ISO 105-B02 for light and BS EN ISO 105-X12 for wet and dry rubbing, and BS EN ISO 105-E01 for change in colour and staining on the wall lines. Rubbing values differ by line: the flooring and mat lines are wet 4/5, dry 5; the upholstery line is wet 4/5, dry 4/5.

The supporting reports are TÜV SÜD 70.404.18.21948.01-00 (2018, AATCC TM 16.3 xenon-arc light fastness), SGS SHIN1707041322MR (2017, ISO 4892-3, UVA-340, 1,000 h) and SGS HZ1293415/TX (2013, BS EN ISO 105-X12 rubbing). The originals are held on file and can be supplied with a project.

Screening covers REACH (211 substances, SVHC screening by SGS, report NGBEC2100793807 A01), RoHS (Directive 2015/863), phthalates DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP (REACH Annex XVII, entries 51 and 52, EU 2018/2005), AZO colorants (ISO 14362-1), pentachlorophenol (CEN/TS 14494, not detected) and formaldehyde (EN 717-2). Heavy metals and specific elements are screened as well. The wall and upholstery lines are additionally tested for release of vinyl chloride monomer (0.12 mg/kg) and for materials in contact with foodstuffs (EN 1186 Part 3), and are screened to California Proposition 65.

Indoor air: our products are low-VOC formulations, and the emissions data is held with the product file.

Each product line has its own specification and data sheet, and the figures above are quoted from those sheets rather than re-stated from memory. Certificates, test reports and their numbers, and the specification sheets, application folders and sample books, are all on the certificates and documents page. Where a value depends on the collection or the construction, it is quoted per project.