The soft and atmospheric patterns and outstanding performance of Forbo Flooring Systems’ Tessera Cloudscape carpet tiles has helped to refresh a high traffic foyer area that leads to one of the main lecture theatres at the University of Cumbria.
The Hugh Pollard lecture theatre, located at the university’s Lancaster campus, is used by hundreds of students every day. After many years of use, the foyer of the building became outdated, with the flooring also needing to be replaced. The new floor covering had to be durable, easy to maintain and aesthetically pleasing to help create a lasting impression for years to come.
Nigel Beeden, former Estates and Property Manager at University of Cumbria said: “I have worked closely with Jon Rogers, Forbo’s Business Area Manager, for a number of years and have used many Forbo products before.
"The carpet tiles have always fared very well and when Tessera Cloudscape was launched, we were very interested in the product as not only did it offer underfoot comfort, but the aesthetic styling of the floor covering provided a textured look and feel that we felt would add depth and variety to the area".
“For the majority of the space we used the colourway Nimbus Grey with a smaller quantity of Monsoon Cloud, a lime green shade, being used in the seating area to create a feature space and also in front of the curtain walling. We didn’t want to use just a plain carpet, so the design of Cloudscape and the careful mix of colours between the grey and green works exceptionally well in this space.”
Tessera Cloudscape was installed in the foyer area of the Hugh Pollard lecture theatre, complementing the teal and grey furniture that is in place. The carpet tiles offer outstanding performance, even in the most demanding of heavy traffic environments, and the multi-height loop design delivers soft and atmospheric patterns that are inspired by constantly changing cloud formations - helping to contribute to the creation of a more calming, relaxed and reflective environment.
Nigel continued: “The cleaners are really happy with the carpet tiles as the speckled appearance is forgiving and doesn’t show hoover lines. In fact, we were so impressed with the styling, performance and maintenance of Tessera Cloudscape that we have upgraded various other corridors in different colourways from the collection.”
The Tessera Cloudscape collection consists of 16 naturally inspired tonal colourways, which allows the creation of light, fresh and airy spaces. Available in 50cm x 50cm tiles, which can be laid non-directional or monolithic. Tessera Cloudscape can also be installed alongside Forbo’s other popular carpet tile ranges, and their Allura Flex LVT collection, meaning clients can easily create an integrated flooring scheme to cater for different demands within every environment.
Cloudscape Merge is also available in all of the 16 Cloudscape colours. The product creates an interesting transition from one area to another, reinforcing the organic structure of Tessera Cloudscape and the tonal progression of colours creating an environment helping us to reconnect.
Dan Jones, current Estates and Property Manager at University of Cumbria, commented: “The feedback from staff, students and visitors has overall been very positive. The carpet tiles have fared very well and still continue to perform like they did the day that they were installed. Tessera Cloudscape is now our go-to floor covering and we have rolled it out as a design standard across the university.”
The creative flooring scheme for the foyer area of the Hugh Pollard lecture theatre has led to the project being awarded Commended in the Fly Forbo 2018/2019 competition.