Forbo Flooring Systems explore the benefits of specifying luxury vinyl tiles

Specified everywhere from residential buildings, to schools, offices, retail centres and hospitals, luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) can no longer be considered a ‘luxury’ in the normal sense of the word. This hard-working flooring solution has become a ubiquitous essential across all sectors, and with a compelling combination of high-quality aesthetics and straightforward practicality, it’s easy to see why.

Perhaps the most significant advantage of LVT is its ability to replicate natural materials, such as wood and stone, without the installation and maintenance costs of these materials. This allows specifiers to create the highly sought-after natural aesthetic in a huge range of applications, where it simply would not be feasible or practical to use the genuine counterpart.

Allura: Burned Oak; Smoke Cement

Features, such as natural colour variations and in-register embossing structures found within some LVT collections, help to emphasise texture for a truly authentic effect. In addition to the realistic designs, there are now LVT collections offering a variety of true to life plank sizes, making it possible to mix and match colours and textures to create traditional chevron and herringbone patterns, or completely bespoke arrangements.

Forbo Flooring Systems, for example, has refreshed its Allura luxury vinyl tile collection – one of the most popular brands in its extensive portfolio. The range comprises more than 120 contemporary designs – the largest choice of colour and design to date – as well as a new acoustic offering. Available in an array of installation formats, the revitalised collection helps designers to create beautiful floor spaces and better indoor environments, no matter what the project requirements or budget may be.

Allura: Dark Vintage Gymfloor; Light Vintage Gymfloor

While aesthetics undeniably play an important role in the popularity of LVT, this is only part of the story. The true value lies in the practicality of this highly durable and easily maintained solution. What’s more, LVT offers star performance when it comes to acoustics – a major consideration for specifiers in many sectors.

According to the World Health Organisation, excessive noise can seriously harm human health and interfere with people’s daily activities at school, work and at home. When designing for a variety of applications, and in particular, multi-occupancy or public buildings, products with high acoustic performance credentials are crucial to create a comfortable space. Indeed, Forbo’s new tackified Allura Decibel range has been designed to deliver excellent impact sound reduction of 19 dB, without compromising on aesthetics or ease of installation. With 30 tile and planks formats in a range of its own unique and contemporary designs, Decibel is the perfect sound reducing solution for all types of building.

Allura Decibel: Rustic Harvest Oak

What’s more, with build timescales under increasing pressure, the fact that LVT is swift and simple to install only adds to its appeal. Indeed, when it comes to renovation projects where it’s essential to get in and out as quickly as possible to minimize disruption, loose lay LVT is ideal. Installed without the need for a permanent adhesive, this versatile floor covering is also suitable for use over raised access floors, providing easy maintenance for the building. The loose lay format opens up new opportunities for designers who are looking for more flexibility when delivering projects to challenging deadlines or are simply looking for a quicker fit.

Allura: Iron Cement; Pink Coral Circle; White Marble Circle; Pink Terrazzo Circle

For example, Forbo’s revitalised Allura Flex collection comprises 65 designs in the most realistic wood and material designs and in a choice of sizes. Adhered with a tackifier, rather than a permanent adhesive, it has been specifically designed for quick and easy loose lay installation. The 1mm transparent wear layer option also ensures that Allura Flex stands up to the demands of even the toughest commercial office environments.

Allura: Iron Cement; Central Oak

Another option is the new Allura Ease adhesive free LVT collection, which is installed without the need for an adhesive or tackifier and is available in planks and tiles with the advantages of being easy to remove, re-use and recycle. The superb dimensional stability and build-up of this floor covering and the specific production process makes sure that the tiles and planks remain flat no matter what. Resulting in less mess, dust, noise and odours, these quick-to-install solutions enable designers to transform spaces into creative places with minimum fuss.

Designed by Forbo’s in-house team of passionate creators, and produced in Europe by Forbo, the new Allura collection is the go-to Luxury Vinyl Tile solution.

Contact Details
For more information please visit the Forbo Flooring Systems website.