Modular Carpets and Rugs

Modular carpets offer flexibility and high performance.

What will the office of the future look like? More homelike spaces chock full of amenities, or, perhaps, a slick George Jetson office replete with gadgets and gizmos? Whatever aesthetics it follows, the modern workplace will need to be flexible, economical, and technologically accessible. Modular carpeting offers a myriad of solutions for the high-tech workplace or classroom.

The new phenomenon is moving to more of a freestanding office. Carpet tile really allows you to access the floor. Raised flooring has the benefits of allowing for flexible telecommunications access and electric outlets, but it has acoustical drawbacks. Carpet tiles used in conjunction with raised flooring accommodate this accessibility and muffle the hollow sound.

Multiuse spaces demand flooring that can withstand reconfiguring with ease. Carpet tile by its very nature is a versatile flooring. When you look at the ceiling of a building you typically see the easy access to the ceiling with panels for lighting. Systems furniture is the same way. That's why people buy it for the ability to reconfigure quickly. Carpet tile is really a system, a system that can be married to those other two surfaces. Then you have maximum flexibility from the ceiling, the furniture, and the floor.

Carpet tile can be an asset to high-traffic or heavy-maintenance areas, because tiles can be replaced without major disturbances if damaged. Facilities managers also have the attractive design option of pairing standard floor tile with carpet tile if a room with multiple uses, such as an employee dining and kitchen area.

Modular carpeting has to work as a high-tech tile, but it still must meet the requirements of broadloom carpets. Facilities managers need a product that will last, will hold together, and still look good while doing it.

High humidity that can cause wallcovering and fabric panels to pucker can also warp poorly constructed modular carpet. The Aachen test for dimensional stability simulates fluctuating humidity levels, and covers issues of raveling, delamination, zippering, and loss of resiliency. A low dimensional change rating of 0.05 percent guarantees the integrity of the individual tiles.

The appearance factor of modular carpets has been the most active frontier. Although telltale seams have not entirely disappeared, new patterns and texture options make them less noticeable. Today people want a product that gives the appearance of broadloom, but with performance and the access to the floors.

Now the beauty and variety of broadloom carpets have been brought to modular carpets. The innovation of cut-and-loop construction to carpet tile gives facilities managers new choices in pile height and textures. Modular carpet yarns are available in a multitude of solid colors and patterns. In addition to modular carpet designs, the tiles can be laid out to form patterns, such as checkerboards, or used to delineate special areas.

The new advances in modular carpet are joining high-quality appearance with cutting-edge performance. Whatever the future of commercial buildings holds, every component of the workplace should work in harmony.