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Aberdeenshire Council squares up to sustainable carpet tiles

An ambitious re-carpeting project will see not only a sustainable new carpet installed in five wings of Aberdeenshire Council’s office in the city but also the repurposing of their old tiles. The project, being undertaken by InterfaceFLOR, a leading manufacturer of eco-friendly modular carpet, is due to be completed during early 2007.

Aberdeenshire Council - Heuga Transformation

The decision to consider InterfaceFLOR’s ReEntry® carpet tile repurposing initiative was taken after the company made a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) presentation on sustainability to the Council’s Property Section. Based on the need to revamp the interior of its 1970s office building, the Council asked InterfaceFLOR to develop an environmentally-friendly design solution to its needs.

The ReEntry® carpet tile take-back scheme is run in partnership with three specialist firms: Pennine Magpie, Green Works and Spruce Carpets. They sort, grade and clean old carpet tiles, which are then made available to charity and community groups at prices they can afford. InterfaceFLOR has already removed around 70 pallet-loads of old carpet tiles from the Council’s office for repurposing.

In conjunction with Aberdeenshire Property Section, InterfaceFLOR developed design and colour schemes that met the Council’s requirement for a consistent, modern and corporate look to the interior of the office. A strong visual impact was achieved using a combination of carpet styles in plain, stripes and random designs.

While sustainability was a major issue for the council the other important consideration was the flexibility of InterfaceFLOR’s carpet tiles. One of the products selected, Heuga Transformation, is a randomly patterned tile which can be laid in any direction to ensure a subtly different look for every installation. Transformation’s design has the benefit of allowing tiles to be selectively replaced without the usual problem of colour incompatibility, even when dealing with areas of flooring which have been in place for a long time.

With 1,300m of carpeting in each wing, this is very important. “We regularly need to move desks and even whole services around. This makes it very easy to replace damaged tiles without affecting the overall look of the carpeting,” says a spokesman from the Council’s Property Section.

Transformation was used in the open-plan offices, with accents of Chenille warp, a stripe design. Conference areas were laid with Tatami, another linear design, with inserts of plain Palette 2000, whilst corridors feature a mix of various patterned styles including Transformation, Chenille Warp, Sabi and The Scandinavian Collection.

Aberdeen-based flooring contractors Veitchi installed the innovative design scheme. Julie Carson, Account Manager at InterfaceFLOR, says: “Veitchi laid every tile exactly as detailed in the plan. This is probably one of the more design-orientated projects they have been involved with and we are very pleased it is progressing so well.”

InterfaceFLOR continues to advise the Council on sustainability issues. “We are working towards consistent office standards for carpets, furniture and décor so people can visit any office and know they are in an Aberdeenshire Council facility,” says the Council spokesman.

For more information on InterfaceFLOR please telephone 08705 30 40 30.