Gimme some skin
In our latest issue of Product Focus, we're looking at surfaces and present a selection of products from HK Floor Design, Villeroy & Boch Fliesen and Casalgrande Padana, whose qualities are far from skin-deep. Instead, they reflect modern design demands with regard to sustainability, versatility and safety.
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Perfect match
It was while collaborating with fellow-Bavarian firm Inntaler Holz + Boden that Harald Kastenhuber – founder of natural-surface-coating specialist Naturhaus – discovered FORESCOLOR fibreboard, the versatile MDF product, and an idea was born. The result is HK Floor Design’s customisable flooring.
Kastenhuber has combined his surface-coating expertise with the special properties of FORESCOLOR to create a flooring system that hard-wearing (having a density greater than that of oak), available in numerous colours that don’t fade, water-resistant, easy to wipe and clean, and with R10 slip-resistance certification. Equally as important are its sustainability credentials – Naturhaus oils consist of renewable raw materials, the flooring's base material is made from waste and residual wood products, and its colour pigments come from organic sources.
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Versa-tile
An innovator of his time, François Boch first started manufacturing ceramic goods in 1748. Today, over 250 years later, Villeroy & Boch Fliesen, the company which still bears his name, continues to innovate and find new, engaging ways for their products to dialogue with modern spaces – Metalyn, for example.
Metalyn is a large-format, super-versatile tile that draws influences from two contemporary material trends in architecture – concrete and metal. Available in six colours, this vilbostone porcelain stoneware comes in a variety of sizes, from 30x60cm up to 120x260cm, and can be applied in an even broader range of private and contract spaces. Beyond bathrooms, its geometric, rust-coloured patterns bring visual appeal to, for example, restaurants, hotels and showrooms.
| | Play it safe
During uncertain times, people often fall back on the familiar and the safe. They look to friends and family for security, and in wider spheres of everyday life, to institutions and companies they can trust. One such is Italy’s Casalgrande Padana – which, after 60 years in the ceramic tile business, could fairly be described as an institution.
When it comes to innovation, however, Casalgrande Padana is not one to look backwards. Take their Bios Antibacterial® ultra-hygienic porcelain stoneware – of particular interest in our current health climate. This technology kills 99.9% of the most common bacterial strains, and can be applied in various-sized formats to a broad variety of contexts – from work surfaces in the kitchen to bathrooms, pool areas and outdoor terraces.
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