Fashion underfoot

From a bold branding statement in a lobby to an elegant finishing touch in a loft office, floorcoverings are key elements in commercial interiors.

Colour, texture and form are seminal to our experience of our environment. Inside our built spaces, it is the sensitive and innovative manipulation of these characteristics that sets the good designer above the average.

And this comes down not only to vision and imagination, but also to market knowledge, and an awareness of developing technologies and trends. One market driven by both - but in particular by the first - is the world of floorcoverings: carpets and rugs.

In terms of carpets, the most popular fibre for commercial use remains nylon. This accounts for approximately 65% of carpet products, both long-run and the highly versatile and easily replaced carpet squares.

Made from long-chain synthetic polyamides, nylon first put in an appearance in carpets in 1959. Since then, it has established itself as a market leader in areas of high-traffic use, given its durability, resilience and wear-resistance - hence its popularity statistic.

From an aesthetic point of view, it broadcasts rich colour, and can be made into either staple (short lengths spun or fused together to create a strand) or continuous filament yarns, for products that offer a variety of distinctly different looks.

Coming in behind nylon are the other manmade fibres, polyester and polypropylene. There's also the pricier natural wool, with its luxurious touch qualities.

And there are more fibres under development as we speak, but it's unlikely a designer will recommend a company drag up its office flooring purely to try the newest product on the catalogues.

"While carpets certainly follow trends, particularly in colour - just like any other fashion item - they tend to be a big-ticket item in any project. They're therefore not something that gets changed with the seasons like a cushion or a throw," says commercial interior designer Rae Ashley.