Repeat. No Repeat.

FilzFelt joins the Knoll family

Knoll had not one but two big announcements this week, including the exciting news that they acquired FilzFelt. The modern furniture giant purchased FilzFelt - a small woman-owned company based in Boston that has been selling felted wood textiles - in order to increase their portfolio of desirable goods and materials for both the commercial and residential markets. FilzFelt joins leather companies Spinneybeck and Edelman as Knoll-owned companies producing luxury goods for the A&D community, and it seems to be a smart pairing.

The wool felt produced by FilzFelt is milled in Germany at a wide width (up to 71") and is available in many different formats. Not just intended for upholstery, felt has structural and dimensional stability and can be used in appropriate thicknesses as an architectural material for screens, wall and ceiling panels, and flooring. It can be die-cut, water-jet cut, laser-cut, laminated, stitched, or receive an adhesive so there is inherent flexibility in the installation of felt as a material. Since the felt is 100% wool, it is natural and biodegradable, renewable as a resource, and is warm and resilient. It has wonderful acoustic properties, and provides insulation. It is also non-directional, which makes it most flexible as a material with little waste factor. It is also water resilient, another feature from the wool fiber which contains lanolin - a natural protectant for sheep's coat. And if that's not enough, wool is also inherently flame retardant. FilzFelt has tested their products tro ASTM E84 standards, and rates as Class A for dyed products (Class B for undyed). It comes in five thicknesses (1/16" up to 3/8") for the various architecural applications, and 58 colors. Speaking of color, since wool is porous as a fiber, it takes dyes beautifully, leaving true clean saturated color behind in gorgeous hues. The color palette used bu FilzFelt was established with a select grouping from the Pantone PMS system, but for a mimimum you can get any custom color. Another bonus working with felted wool is that since it's non-woven, it can be cut without compromising the structure of the fabric, and therefore you can have exposed edges if desired.

FilzFelt screens used in a corporate pantry

FilzFelt wool rug with decorative stitching detail

Suzanne Tick and Tandus: Designing with Sero

Textile designer and artist Suzanne Tick, who has spent much of her career crafting designs for Knoll Textiles and Tandus carpet, visited our office in Philadelphia last week to present her latest work with Tandus. We at Kling Stubbins love first hand accounts of the design process from industry luminaries, so it was treat to welcome Suzanne to the office and have her tell us in her own words about the new technology Tandus has called Sero. Sero technology is tied to Tandus' Powerbond product, which is basically 6' wide hybrid product of resilient flooring with carpet face to give you an impermeable, seamless product. Powerbond has been around for over four decades, but no one had ever designed to the medium before nor thought about the entire floor plane, trying to resolve issues of larger scale and repeat. Suzanne and the folks at Tandus tackled that by pushing the boundaries of the tufting machines, thinking beyond the limitations of width and length. Once the idea of creating modular tiles from the Powerbond Sero machines was out of the box, it became apparent that the patterns once installed would be "unidirectional" - a new terms for us designers who are used to more regulated ways of installing carpet tile. The unidirectional approach makes for a faster, easier installation (which always equates to dollars) and less waste, but more importantly, it allows for a more sprawling pattern that is ideal for the open plan office (which we all know is more popular than ever with offices going away). The patterns in the latest collections are fantastic - specifically "Change", which has an undulating fringe type line pattern not unlike an EKG. Depending in which format you use, you can get a very active pattern on the floor, or a more subdued one, with specific areas of pattern placement. We also like "Nonconform", which is a grid pattern of two scales. Suzanne explained the inspiration for this was by watching two different patterns being tufted together on the loom, and how seeing the collision of two scales was very interesting. Images from our time together are below. Thanks Suzanne and Tandus for the visit!

Suzanne Tick presenting new products from Tandus to designers at Kling Stubbins

Overhead view of Change and Nonconform by Tandus

Here is a video explaining Powerbond, which gives you a good sense of what the product is and how it's made, along with the attributes that make it so resilient:

 

 

Report from Neocon '11

The Take5 Forum with The Mohawk Group @ NeoCon 2011 from neoconwtf on Vimeo.

Finally back from the Windy City and another Neocon. As usual, it was an action-packed adventure filled with events, networking, seminars, and of course tons of new products for the A&D community. Here's a recap of all the Neocon related activities that I either particpated in, witnessed, stumbled upon, or merely blew by. But before you scroll any further, click on the above link to see a bunch of folks talking about what inspires them at Neocon. Recognize anyone?

SATURDAY - JUNE 11

The pre-Neocon party to be at is the DIFFA Ball. This year, the theme was "Rock n Roll" and 90s indie rock legends The Lemonheads were booked to play the ball. The DIFFA Ball is indeed the most glamourous of Neocon events, and not even the IIDA Ball can hold a candle to the themed party environment that is carefully created each year as a benefit for AIDS. It is one first-class party, with top-notch decorations and food, as well as compelling speakers and a good DJ, and of course it's always a treat to see designers dress up in creative black tie. I have to admit that I was pretty excited to see the Lemonheads again - this time at a private function - although it was an odd choice for the ball. My hunch proved correct as I was THE ONLY PERSON singing along and rocking out. Yes, the only person out of maybe 1000 people. There were a few people dancing during their set as if they were at the prom, but they weren't fans from what I could tell. It was my own private concert as most party goers went to get dessert, and well that was pretty depressing. So I realized something at that moment, related to all those lectures we get as designers about the differences of the four generations in the workplace. You see, I am part of Generation X, the smallest and loneliest generation of our times. The world is - and the DIFFA Ball was - filled mostly with Baby Boomers ("That music is too loud") and Millenials ("Where is Lady Gaga?). It seemed as if I was the only Gen X'r in the room who related to The Lemonheads. I think all those social anthropologists are on to something. To make me feel better, I did get the set list and Evan Dando gave me his guitar pick. Oh, and I also met Yves Behar of Fuse Project (designer of Herman Miller's new Sayl chair) -  we had a nice chat about art and other things, and I look forward to seeing more products from him in the future.

SUNDAY - JUNE 12

First stop was the Interior Design Magazine Giants event, where I met Design-On-A-Dime star Ali Azhar. It was also great to see many industry friends, as this is one of the joys of Neocon. Then it was off to the IIDA Cool Ball, which was the platform for the awards of the IIDA Annual Design Competition, which were handed out to the lucky designer recipients. Of course Clive Wilkinson won another award for his One Shelley Street project for Macquarie - probably the most iconic corporate project of the last few years. A special award for the winner of the Will Ching Design Competiton was Sand Studios of San Francisco who won for their SPARC project, a medical marijuana facility. Surely this is a first?! After the ball it was off to bed, as the first full day of Neocon was approaching.

MONDAY - JUNE 13

First stop was the Herman Miller showroom, where their Canvas product dominated the showroom. Also visited with Geiger, Leland, Bernhardt, Keilhauer, Allermuir, and Davis. Then went to Haworth where I met Clive Wilkinson in person, who designed their showroom in between collecting awards. The big news from Haworth is that they will now be the North American distributor for legendary Italian furniture manufacturers Cassina, Cappelini, and Poltrona Frau. Che fantastico! Also fantastic is Steelcase's new sister products to Media:scape, Mini and Mobile. Every systems furniture manufacturer now has a Media:scape "me too" product, featuring collaborative conferencing. Had lunch at the Bright showroom, then finished visiting the showrooms on the 3rd Floor after a wonderful stop at HBF. Had fun with MaryJo Miller of HBF Textiles (how I love that woman!) and met the very busy Todd Bracher, designer of HBF's new seating line "Nest" (as well as Humanscale's new "Trea" chair and Shaw's new carpet line "Music Project"). I also explored the Materials Pavilion on the 8th Floor, sponsored by Interiors and Sources Magazine and curated by my dear friend and materials guru Grace Jeffers. My colleague John Trosino from Kling Stubbins gave a presentation in the late afternoon called "Restoring Beauty", about our firm's restoration of the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. It was wonderful reliving all of the stories and details about the ballroom renovation and especially the art and chandelier restoration work. After that was an event at the Tandus showroom, then a very crowded party hosted by Interface, and then the Vitra event held at the newish Renzo Piano wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. What a day! 

 
Haworth showroom from the hallway 

Davis showroom, featuring Kontour

TUESDAY - JUNE 14

Tuesday was all about the 10th and 11th floors of the Mart. At Knoll I fell in love with the new sister chair to Generation (called Regeneration), which is a slimmed down version of the original. At Shaw, minds were blown with a new concept that "activates the edge". Interface had not one but two carpet showrooms - one for creative and collaborative settings, and one for more typical office settings. Loved both! Visited Bentley Prince Street, Milliken, Mannington, and Aquafill too (where I learned about how they reclaim fishing nets to make their recycled nylon fiber). Had lunch with a cool British company called KITE, and then saw lots more furniture from companies like Vitra, Coalesse, and Andreu World. Later in the day I participated in a panel about Designers & The Web, hosted by Stylex and moderated by Designer Pages. My fellow panelists, which included John Czarnecki (new Editor in Chief of Contract Magazine), had a great time discussing how the web is used in selecting and specifying products. We had a great turn out with great questions at the end, thanks to all who came out (especially the Philly contingincy). After another evening furniture event with an international crowd, and a sighting of HGTV's Vern Yip on the sidewalk, it was off to bed after a long day.

 
Shaw contract's On The Edge collection 

Vitra showroom

WEDNESDAY - JUNE 15

Finished up the 10th and 11th floors with Allsteel, Gunlocke, Teknion, Luna Textiles, Masland, Wolf Gordon (who has added textiles to their repetoire), and B&B Italia. Love the new Gather collection from Allsteel, filled with pieces intended for break out areas - especially the upholstered platforms at mulitple heights. Went to Halcon to visit the Best of Neocon winner (that's Best of Competiton!) which is Motus, the most elegant modular wood table ever. As for the most elegant presenter, we then visited with Carl Magnusson at Teknion to learn all about MAST, his new monitor arm system. Then cruised the 7th and 8th Floors, where my favorite was Design Within Reach's booth, which showcased an Executive Office outfitted in Finn Juhl and Verner Panton. Oh that desk! Also discovered new stones from Stone Source (check out the new Burlington Stone, from a previously unmined part of the quarry). And then Neocon was over, just like that. Is anyone else suffering from post-Neocon depression?

 
Allsteel's Gather collection

Carl Magnusson showing off MAST at Teknion

Click here to view the entire Neocon 2011 photo album.

SixInch Formcoating

SixInch's Louis I chair in formcoat

Belgian manufacturer SixInch is a master of formcoating furniture since 2006. Instead of upholstering furniture frames in the typical method of placing fabric over foam, SixInch sprays a flexible polyurethane coating over the frame and high density foam, eliminating the need for upholstery. This coating makes for a waterproof, wipeable, cleanable, soft-to-the-touch feel that is smooth yet tactile. Since sewing isn't employed, no stitches are present, making for a seamless surface. This formcoat material imparts a matte or gloss finish in any color (Sin Inch matches the designer's or end user's RAL or Pantone color) for a perfect match to the project's palette.

SixInch offers two types of formcoat finishes: "Soft Flex" and "Flex Plus". Soft Flex is strictly an indoor coating and was the original one the company developed, utilizing a 4-6 layer system. Flex Plus uses a 3 layer system and is considered more durable, suitable for indoor and outdoor use. This finish is also tested for commercial use. Both finishes are able to be printed on, receiving patterns or logos per the client's specifications. The foam used can be FR treated, is available in different densities for a firmer or softer sit, and therefore is rather customizable once you consider the color choices are endless. The company offers a catalog of "standard" products, but also can develop customs as needed for any type of installation.

SixInch's Blocks in formcoat

SixInch's Letter "A" in formcoat

Lessons in Wood: Lyptus

Lyptus is a relatively new exotic hardwood on the design scene that comes from a hybrid of eucalyptus species. Brought to market by Weyerhaeuser, Lyptus is a viable alternative to other exotic woods as it is grown and processed under strict sustainable forest certification standards. Lyptus as a trade name covers lumber and veneer, available in a range of natural colors (light pink to red), and flooring, which comes in a range of stains. Even though it is not considered a tropical wood, Lyptus shares the same benefits as tropical hardwoods, and is comparable in grain and figure to the more common mahogany and cherry. It is also more moderately priced and readily available, so Weyerhaeuser is hoping that Lyptus will become the go-to wood for the design trade's projects and millwork and flooring installations.

The environmental story for Lyptus begins on the coast of Brazil at plantations owned and managed by Fibria, which are certified to Cerflor, Brazil's national standard for sustainable forestry. Lyptus forests are rapidly renewable, with fast growth rates and prolific volume. The partner mill, APM, then processes the logs to Cerflor and other sustainable certifications. Since the logs can be fully utilized (including using the scraps for bioenergy in the kiln-drying operation), there is more yield than other hardwoods.

Some facts about the lumber:
- The strength and density is similar to hard maple
- Logs have fewer knots than naturally grown trees and thus lumber is more uniform
- Lyptus takes stains evenly, which is something that Maple does not do in large areas
- The hardwood has good machining properties and holds fasteners and glue well 
- The colors are sorted by range - the darker, the more dense

Some facts about the veneers:
- The Lyptus veneer comes plain sliced or quartered
- Veneers are sold as flitches or layed-up on plywood with a variety of core options
- There is a limited availability of figured and burl veneers

Plain sliced veneer (far left) and Quartered veneer (right)

Quartered Lyptus Veneers used for Millwork

Some facts about the flooring:
- Available as solid hardwood or engineered floors
- Engineered planks are available 3-1/4" and 5" wide with tongue and groove construction
- The plywood base is FSC certified and will meet the new California formaldehyde regulations 
- Lyptus solid flooring is harder than oak

Lyptus flooring in Stone finish

Do You Tryk?

In the ever-challenging quest for a sustainable future, the architecture-design-construction world has made great strides and huge paradigm shifts in how we practice. One group leading the way is a small company in Chattanooga, TN called Tricycle Inc. Founded in 2002, Tricycle aims to reduce design sample waste by educating manufacturers as well as designers in the benefits of sample simulation. Tricycle has created numerous programs and technologies that create realistic looking simulations of textile patterns on paper. This has been embraced by many carpet manufacturers - such as Interface, Tandus, Shaw, Mohawk, Mannington, and Milliken among others. However, the technology is not limited to carpet, and can be used for fabrics, hard surface flooring, and other materials and finishes.

Since its inception, Tricycle estimates that their products have prevented 418,000 lbs of carpet from going into landfills, the result of having their sample simulations replace physical carpet samples from being produced and then thrown out. In addition, the use of paper samples over physical samples have so far saved 69,000 gallons of oil due to the carpet industry's use of oil to make nylon fiber and polyester backings. Water and electricity are also saved. These numbers will continue to grow as the industry continues to become more familiar with this method of sampling, which is a good thing since an astounding 700,000 carpet samples will be ordered in 2010 alone! We have to do better to lower this sample number...

For designers, sample ordering - especially for carpet - can be daunting when there are a lot of options and they keep arriving in boxes at the office. Large projects typically require multiple designs and when you factor in several options for each area, the carpet sampling can easily grow out of control.  With the paper simulations, called "Tryks", designers can cut down on waste dramatically and use the Tryks as tools to narrow decisions down so that just the final choices can be ordered as actual tufted samples and resources can be spared. Tryk samples can then be recycled after use, or easily archived as PDFs or in your filing cabinet.

Tryk sim samples are paper and take us less room than carpet ones

One of the reasons the paper samples are called "sims" (or simulations) is that they are extremely realistic digital representations of the actual tufted product.  The pattern, texture, and colors are faithfully reproduced and are sampled to scale. This makes it easy for viewing, transporting, presenting, and is a great tool to reduce waste.  Manufacturers have also utilized the Tryk products for their own sample books and merchandising, which is another area that dramatically reduce real product waste and keep in house costs down.

Tricycle has numerous sampling tools to aide the industry, the more useful one being the Tryk Studio Platform. This is an online design tool that allows designers to visualize their desired products in a room setting, with the ability to test out different colorways or patterns.  This again can allow for ease of decision making without the need to order physical samples. There is also downloadable swatch program that allows for dropping patterns into 3D rendering programs such as Revit and SketchUp.

A Tryk paper showing a carpet "sim" and room visualization 

Tricycle is also involved in Ample Sample, a cool program for up-cycling physical carpet samples (or Tryk sims) into something more interesting than items destined for trash. Ample Sample has a competition each year, with the re-purposed products on display at Neocon.  This June, the winner was Steven Rothe, with his Cynch Stool. View the Ample Sample website to see this year's entries - all are pretty clever!

Cynch stool made from carpet samples 

TVs Become Tiles: EcoMarmo by Marca Corona

Italian tile manufacturer Marca Corona has introduced a beautiful new porcelain tile product with an intriguing story: these tiles, known as Eco Marmo, are made from recycled television parts!  This is truly intriguing, especially since the main ingredients of porcelain tile are typically sand and minerals from the earth such as feldspar, all natural.  It is rather incredulous upon first hearing that tile can be made from TVs. However, Marca Corona has derived a way to recycle glass from the cathode ray tubes of the unwanted TV sets and use it as raw material for their new line of tile. The TV sets are procured locally in the Sassuolo region of Italy, and thirty television sets yields approximately 230 sf of tile - impressive! The TV glass contributes 40% post-consumer recycled content, and Marca Corona also recycles 40% of water used in the production of the tile.  This tile line bears the Ecolabel certification, which is a European standard concerned with a product's low environmental impact.

The Eco Marmo collection has the look of natural travertine, and comes in three colorways (beige, white, and gold).  There are two finishes: natural (honed), and reflex (polished), and both have a slip-resistant texture.  The tiles are available in large format, ideal for architectural projects of a grand scale. (In fact, the ubiquitous 12"x12" tile isn't even an option - sizes are 18"x18", 12"x24", 18"x36", and 24"x24").   This tile is brand new in the USA, just now making its way to our shores.  It was first introduced in Italy in the Fall of 2009, and will now be available in the US imminently.  Prices to the trade are typical for Italian porcelain tiles, ranging between $7 - $9 sf. 
 

New Sustainable Flooring: USF Contract

 

Corboo planks by USF Contract

A new resource for designers is now available from USF Contract, a manufacturer of sustainable flooring products such as bamboo, cork, and solid wood.  Upon first thought you may ask "Do we really need another manufacturer for bamboo, cork, and wood?", which was exactly our first thought.  But upon further review, USF Contract is exactly what is needed in the marketplace right now.  For starters, they are the offshoot of bigger flooring manufacturer US Floors, who is located in the carpet capital of Dalton, GA.  US Floors has been making residential flooring products in a plant using solar energy for almost a decade.  A member of the USGBC, US Floors recognized the need for more unique sustainable flooring products in the commercial market.  After all, there are plenty of sources for residential and commercial grade bamboo that all look relatively the same (with a few exceptions), many with sub-par performance in contract settings.

Products such as Corboo, a strand-woven bamboo infusing strands of cork into the planks, makes for a visually interesting alternative to typical strand (which is the harder reconstituted version of vertical and horizontal grain types).  Adding cork to the strand bamboo makes the already hard and dense flooring now have sound reduction properties and an interesting aesthetic.  USF Contract only uses Moso6 bamboo, which is a species of bamboo that has the density and dimensional stability required for contract installations.  Moso6 is allowed to grow for six years in a managed forest (or field), allowing the inherent strength to cultivate.  (Many bamboo manufacturers use immature plants, harvesting in less than five years, often just three, which compromises the hardness of the product).  It is important to note that the manufacturer complies with the Lacey Act, which protects wildlife and plants from illegal harvesting.

They also have a large range of colors (36 standard in all!), and custom is available.  Just this alone would set USF Contract apart, as palettes from most bamboo manufacturers are usually limited to a small range. There are two finish options - Endura AR, a hard UV-cured finish, or Natural-E, a Natural Oil finish.  It is worth noting that oil finish is better for a sustainable maintenance routine, as potable or grey water isn't constantly being used to clean the surface.  USF also offers a lifetime structural warranty on the strand woven bamboo.

Another unique product from USF Contract is Cork Decor, a product that has new visual patterns that haven't been seen to date, with a nano-bead technology incorporated in the finish, thus allowing for improved scuff and scratch resistance, as well as slip resistance (a common problem with cork floors that have been finished with shiny polyurethane).  The water-based Acrodur binder (which holds the cork bits together) is also formaldehyde and phenol free, reducing VOC emissions and making it Greenguard certified.  This product has a 15 year commercial wear warranty and a lifetime structural warranty - almost unheard of for cork!  USF also offers homogenous cork tiles, which resemble the look of cork flooring that we are used to seeing but it is not comprised of cork veneers (ie layers) and comes pre-buttered, meaning all tiles are covered with adhesive prior to arriving on site.  This allows for a more thorough glue-down installation, ensuring sides and corners stick to the substrate (also a problem seen in typical cork tile installations).

All of USF Contract flooring products meet or exceed E0 and CARB 2012 standards for VOC emissions, and contribute various points for LEED certification (recycled content, rapidly renewable materials, low emitting materials, and certified wood depending on which product is specified).  Perhaps in our product selection product for projects, these are the questions we need to be asking manufacturers, whether a project is following the letter of LEED or the spirit of LEED.  The more we pay attention to truly sustainable material options, the easier it will get to make the right decisions without having to wade through multiple products with varying levels of sustainable factors.