A variety of Forbo Flooring System’s products have been specified for a futuristic interior, designed to challenge and stimulate the senses, at the new European headquarters of EON Reality, a world leading interactive 3D software provider.
Located in Manchester, the 10,000 square foot space consists of a showroom for the Californian company’s cutting-edge virtual reality 3D technologies and a coding school, that educates and trains students to become 3D content and coding specialists.
Atul Bansal from The Sheila Bird Group, who designed the headquarters, said: “This was a very inspiring project to be a part of, with an exciting brief to follow. EON Reality wanted the showroom and coding school to have the themes of discovery and fun running through them. Therefore, we decided to use sharp contrasts of light and darkness to challenge the senses – preparing the mind for the immersive technology experience ahead.”
In the coding school’s breakout space for its students, Atul wanted to create a stimulating environment based on the theme of movement. “Forbo’s linear concept of Flotex HD Cord, complete with Thomas Heatherwick’s gravity defying chairs - which spin around - has helped us to produce a real sense of motion and reinforces the theme of discovery and movement,” commented Atul.
“As this is a chill out area, we didn’t want to use dark shades, we wanted colours and a pattern that would keep the students’ minds flowing with creativeness, and so we specified two colourways: ginger, a brown background with golden lines and a burnt orange shade, with yellow lines – complimenting the client’s corporate colours.”
Furthermore, Flotex is one of only two floor coverings to have been awarded the prestigious Seal of Approval from Allergy UK, as with the correct cleaning regime, it will not harbour dust mites – all the while contributing to a healthier indoor environment for the coding school, where there will be many visitors.
Ken Swain, Managing Director of EON Reality in the UK said: “The Flotex flooring has been extremely easy to keep clean, thanks to its truly washable properties. Despite having been installed in the coding school where spillages of food and drink can occur regularly, the efficient cleaning process has resulted in less labour time and no extra maintenance costs.”
Atul continued: “Within the showroom, we created a virtual corridor to connect the different technologies. This optical illusion centrepiece is configured from inverted walls, mirrors and short-throw lighting, which takes the visitors on a journey. With light springing from mirrors and walls, we required flooring that had a low light reflectance, which would absorb the light and not bounce it back to the surrounding areas. Forbo’s Eternal Slate vinyl, in black, was installed within this corridor, as it provided a mysterious feel and was able to deliver the light absorption performance we needed.”
Ken continues: “Overall, the flooring has really helped to capture the essence of the technology within the building and provide a modern and futuristic interior, thanks to the light absorbing surface in the showroom and the coloured and fun patterned aesthetics in the coding school, which is in keeping with EON Reality’s branding.”
