Everything You Need To Know
About Commercial LVT Flooring
Within many commercial environments, floors need to be functional and durable enough to withstand heavy traffic, whilst being aesthetically pleasing to contribute to the overall interior design. As such, it’s not hard to understand why commercial LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles) flooring is rising in popularity. But what is commercial LVT and what are the benefits of specifying it? Karen Wilding, our Marketing Communications Manager at Forbo explains all here.
What is commercial LVT flooring?
Commercial LVT combines the beautiful aesthetics of natural wood and stone floors with the practical benefits of a strong, comfortable vinyl tile. It’s manufactured with multiple layers, usually consisting of a glass fleece core which gives the product its dimensional stability, a backing layer, the ‘design’ layer and then a wear layer on top to prevent scuffs and stains. The top layer can also feature an embossed finish to emphasise the texture of the planks for a truly authentic wooden or stone aesthetic.
There are even LVT solutions available on the market, such as our Allura collection, which contain recycled content in the backing layer and are produced with 100% renewable electricity, to improve the sustainability attributes.
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What are the benefits of commercial luxury vinyl tiling?
Whilst commercial LVT flooring may replicate the aesthetics of wood and stone, it is more durable than its real counterparts. It has superior dimensional stability for ease of fitting and improved durability, and the proven wear layer ensures lasting appearance retention and high scratch and stain resistance. It’s also very easy to clean and maintain.
There are commercial LVT flooring solutions that can be installed adhesive free too, resulting in less mess, dust, noise and odours. These ‘fast fit’ LVT ranges also reduce installation time by over 50%, minimising disruption and downtime.
Also, with research documenting the negative effects unwanted noise can have on occupants’ health and well-being, the effects of poor acoustics in building design are becoming increasingly recognised.
In response to this, there are now acoustic LVT collections available that can deliver 19 dB impact sound reduction and outstanding residual indentation performance, without compromising on aesthetics or ease of installation.
Did we mention that commercial LVT flooring is available in a wealth of contemporary designs and colourways too, as well as in tile and plank formats, giving you the design freedom to bring any interior to life!?
Where can commercial LVT flooring be used
Providing a wealth of styles, designs and colour options, there is no limit to the scope of flooring schemes that can be achieved, which is why LVT remains an increasingly popular choice within the retail, office, education , hospitality and leisure sectors.
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Allura Decibel
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Retail
From chic boutiques to large department stores, creating the perfect environment in which customers feel comfortable, relaxed and engaged is key to enticing them in, prolonging their in-store stay and subtly improving their shopping experience. While there are many options that can enhance the interior design of a store, the flooring plays a significant role in dictating the overall aesthetic of a retail setting. Thanks to the versatility and array of designs available, commercial LVT flooring is an ideal choice for the retail sector.
Also, when it comes to refurbishing retail environments, ensuring downtime is kept to a minimum is, of course, vital. As such, there are LVT solutions available that can be installed over most floor coverings without the need for glues or adhesives – and without having to compromise on aesthetics, such as our Allura puzzle range.
Offices
Whilst a real wooden, stone or ceramic floor certainly brings a natural beauty and timeless appeal to office interiors, a hard floor may not always be a practical or cost-effective option – and that’s where commercial LVT flooring comes into play! It’s not only the perfect alternative, offering convincing aesthetics, but it’s also hardwearing and durable enough to withstand heavy footfall.
Commercial LVT flooring can also be installed alongside carpet tiles, without the need for transition strips, additional profiles, or an inconvenient build-up of the sub floor, meaning beautifully integrated flooring schemes can be developed.
Allura Dryback
Allura Dryback is our fully adhered LVT range, which has recently been refreshed to offer you even more choices. In fact, there are over 90 designs to choose from, including our brand new, highly contemporary gradient wood plank, which features a graded light to dark design at random intervals of the plank, as well as Twine, which is a hybrid between wood, stone and textile aesthetics for a softer and more elegant take on modern wood.
At the other end of the spectrum, there’s our new digitally printed abstract designs, Sky and Cloud, which are reminiscent of cloudy, overcast days or beautiful early morning sunrises to bring the outside in.
We’ve also launched a series of new plank and tile sizes including a modern, elegant 75x15cm plank, designed to meet the demands of the growing herringbone trend, larger 150x20cm planks, and tiles sizes of 100x50cm and 75x25cm, which broaden the possibilities of flooring design further.
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Allura Flex II
Our Allura Flex collection has recently been renamed to Flex II, as it now sees the inclusion of a new double glass fibre layer for better stability and allows for completely adhesive free installations in areas up to 150m2. The dimensionally stable Flex tiles addresses key issues, such as reducing costly downtime, reusing flooring and minimising environmental impact.
Allura Click Pro
Allura Click Pro is our genuinely adhesive free LVT clickable design solution, which is suitable for areas up to 1000m2 without transition and for installation over uneven subfloors. With no adhesive required, Allura Click Pro can also be easily lifted and re-used.
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Allura Puzzle
Allura puzzle is our heavy traffic solution, which comes in a unique puzzle-shaped format designed especially for adhesive free installations.
The large 96 x 96 cm tiles are available in 18 wood or material designs and are suitable for any single area without transition up to 500m2. Part of our Fast Flooring collection, they can reduce installation time by over 50%.
Allura Decibel
Our Allura decibel collection meets the demand for stylish, luxury acoustic floor coverings. Offering 19 dB impact sound reduction, the collection is available in 49 contemporary colourways, taking inspiration from several prominent trends. Installed using tackifier, Allura Decibel planks can be easily removed for re-use or to be recycled.
A 100% phthalate free, REACH* compliant product, Allura is produced in Europe using 100% green electricity and with low product emission levels that are below the industry average.
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