When it comes to creating dramatic and large-scale interior design schemes for the hospitality and leisure sector, whether that’s within modern hotels, golf clubs or sports facilities, digitally printed textile flooring can lend itself to the task beautifully. Here, Donna Hannaway, Head of Marketing UK and Ireland at Forbo Flooring Systems explores the latest design inspirations and offers advice on how you can choose a textile flooring that will stay looking vibrant for longer.
The UK has one of the most dynamic hospitality sectors in the world, contributing billions to the country’s economy every year. While diverse in nature, encompassing everything from boutique hotels and Michelin star restaurants to golf clubs and sports and gaming venues, they all face many of the same challenges. In recent years, the sector has experienced a significant shift in consumer habits, with the hybrid working environment and cost of living crisis both contributing to a noticeable shift towards a ‘night in’. Venues are having to work harder than ever before, with an increased emphasis on offering an exciting or unique experience to attract people through the doors.
While the standard of creating a welcoming and contemporary interior remains, there is also an urgent need to deliver on a unique look and feel, one that is in keeping with the overall brand and experience on offer. With this in mind, interior designers are faced with a challenging brief, with the flooring – the largest surface in any building – having a major role to play. Fortunately, with recent advancements in the market, architects and specifiers will be practically spoilt for choice.
One solution that has taken off in recent years, thanks to new production technologies, is digitally printed textile flooring. Using the latest innovations in digital printing, these collections can enable you to put high-end design front and centre. Regardless of whether it’s a trendy hotel in the heart of the city, a cosy establishment in the mountains or a charming and traditional restaurant, you need a high-performance flooring that suits the space and its story.
Floral
For a classic chic or bohemian atmosphere, a floral design can help to give an establishment a touch of class, as well as supporting the globally renowned biophilic design trend. Whether it’s a restaurant, hotel or function suite, timeless floral designs feel at home anywhere.
Textile
Perfect for hotels where the design brief is to create a cosy and warm atmosphere that draws people inside, consider a digitally printed design that is inspired by beloved textiles and materials. Plaid patterns, as an example, can help to evoke a vintage look and feel.
Statement
When the brief is to create a stand-out interior that will amaze everyone who walks through the door, look for lively geometric patterns and graphic prints that naturally engage people and encourage active involvement. With a host of striking decors and on-trend colours on offer, you can select a flooring design that is a work of art in its own right.
Of course, while design is at the forefront of digitally printed textile flooring, with endless possibilities available, this doesn’t negate the need for a high-quality product. This is where certain textile floorings can triumph, offering excellent underfoot comfort and helping to create a welcoming and homely atmosphere. They can also deliver great sound absorbing properties, a key consideration in applications such as hotel rooms and corridors, helping to contribute to a restful night’s sleep for guests.
Another concern for architects and specifiers should be the longevity of the flooring. Rightfully so, if you are investing in a stand-out design, and considering the critical role a floor covering can play as part of a wider interior design scheme, it’s essential that the installation stays looking vibrant and fresh for as long as possible. It is here that flocked textile flooring truly comes into its own. Neither a carpet nor a resilient floor covering, the unique construction of flocked flooring combines the comfort properties of a textile with outstanding durability and cleanability.
Lasting far longer than a traditional carpet, flocked flooring can withstand extreme wear and high traffic, including footfall and wheeled suitcases or hotel trollies, as well as being completely washable and quick to dry, offering enhanced cleaning and ease of maintenance.
Forbo’s recent refresh of its Flotex collection offers architects and specifiers a variety of high-end design options. With Flotex’s flocked construction and 70 million fibres per square metre, it is the perfect base for Forbo’s state of the art digital printing capabilities, giving greater definition than is possible using conventional textile products. Offering an infinite number of bespoke design options, Flotex’s enhanced cleanability and durability helps to keep hospitality and leisure interiors looking better for longer.
Containing up to 59% recycled content by weight, Flotex is manufactured in factories running off 100% renewable electricity. Flotex also boasts the prestigious Allergy UK seal of approval.