NeoCon 2020: If you need flooring that helps meet sustainability goals, check out Mohawk’s wood-look resilient and urban-design carpet planks

by Brianna Crandall — June 22, 2020 — Mohawk Group, a producer and distributor of quality commercial flooring used around the world, introduced several new flooring collections in recent months, including the Large & Local resilient tile and the Smart City carpet plank collections highlighted below.

Large & Local LVT

Mohawk Group’s Large & Local luxury vinyl tile (LVT) wide-plank collection celebrates nature and manufacturing innovations set in the North Georgia mountains. The resilient flooring collection features eight clean wood visuals with minimal graining, together with eight rustic visuals with coarse graining and a circle-sawn texture.

With a natural color range and matte surface reminiscent of European hand-oiled finishes, these versatile planks are well-suited for any interior, from modern to traditional, says Mohawk. Large & Local is made in the US with domestic and imported materials, and is recommended for specification in a variety of contract interiors, from workspaces to restaurants and retail.

Mohawk Group Large & Local resilient flooring

Large & Local LVT wide-plank resilient flooring collection features 8 clean wood visuals with minimal graining, and 8 rustic visuals with coarse graining and a circle-sawn texture. Image courtesy Mohawk Group

The collection is produced using 100% pre-consumer recycled materials at Mohawk Group’s North Georgia resilient plant. Large & Local’s 16 styles of extra-wide and long planks measuring 9.25″ x 59″ are named after local mountain gaps and destinations near the city of Dalton. The LVT line’s production ensures quality and ease in serviceability for hard-surface flooring.

The commercial-grade dryback resilient flooring collection is manufactured with a 4.5 mm thickness and features a 20 mil wear layer and M-Force Ultra finish. Large & Local is also FloorScore certified.

Visit the Mohawk Group website to explore Large & Local LVT.

Smart City carpet plank collection

Mohawk Group’s latest Living Product carpet system finds inspiration in the urban environment of the future. As the company points out, smart cities unite people through high-speed technology and connectivity.

Mohawk Group’s Smart City collection — a 12″ x 36″ Living Product carpet plank system — explores a future in which the urban environment nurtures its citizens through these advancements and sustainable development. As cities become more desirable for business, culture and personal opportunity, they are shaping the evolution of human experience. These are the cities of tomorrow . . . and the city for today, says the company.

Mohawk Group Smart City

Smart City carpet plank collection (shown: Urban Mobility) reinterprets the transit maps of major cities into soft surfaces for commercial interiors. Image courtesy Mohawk Group

Jackie Dettmar, Mohawk Group’s vice president of Design and Product Development, remarked:

The best cities and urban environments are well planned and fluid, making creative use of space to maximize efficiency and growth. We looked to this model to create Smart City, specifically how this vision of metropolis and community responds to the needs of all who inhabit and visit — whether through walkability, accessibility, the integration of green space, or any number of factors that actively improve quality of life.

The carpet plank collection reinterprets the transit maps of major cities and urban areas into soft surfaces for commercial interiors. The system includes Urban Model, an organic base pattern that reflects the texture and rhythm of a metropolitan mapscape, and Urban Mobility, coordinating pattern styles with linework and accent colors inspired by the subway systems of Berlin, Istanbul, London, New York, Paris and Shanghai.

Mohawk Group collaborated with Gensler, serving as product design consultant, for Smart City. Its design and development were informed by the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3) and the AIA 2030 Commitment, initiatives that call for all new buildings, developments and major renovations to be carbon neutral by 2030. The specification of net positive carbon Living Products like Smart City help support this mission.

Smart City meets the stringent requirements of Living Product Challenge Petal Certification and is domestically manufactured at Mohawk Group’s “Living Site” facility in Glasgow, Virginia. More than 300 carpet plank styles that originate at the Living Site have achieved certification because of the manufacturer’s efforts to streamline operations such as decreasing water usage and focusing on special processes and community partnerships that lower environmental impact.

Using the Living Product framework, Smart City is said to have a net positive impact for people and the environment through innovations in materials, manufacturing and community involvement.

Dettmar added:

As the maker of Living Products like Smart City, we believe better design examines both embodied carbon and materials health to produce sustainable products that help reduce the carbon footprint of our customers and lead the way in transparency.

All Living Products support and contribute to healthier commercial environments and their end users by being free of toxins and other harmful chemicals of concern, while also protecting the outside environment. Additionally, the manner of manufacturing aligns with socially responsible practices that are respectful of workers’ rights.

Red List-free Smart City styles feature Mohawk Group’s award-winning Heathered Hues yarn system. Texture and blending provide a variegated wool-like appearance, creating the manufacturer’s most natural-looking nylon yarn to date. These commercial fibers create a warm, biophilic aesthetic that is appealing to all commercial environments — especially those set in more industrialized, urban areas where nature is less evident, says the company.

The innovative yarn is dematerialized for a lower impact, and no water is used in its production. The Smart City collection comes standard with Duracolor Tricor solution-dyed nylon fiber and EcoFlex NXT tile backing. Duracolor Tricor utilizes a groundbreaking modified triangular-shaped core to deliver unsurpassed stain resistance, colorfastness, durability, color clarity and enhanced soil performance.

Mohawk brand Daltile’s coordinating My City, a cutting-edge porcelain tile collection, is also inspired by transit systems. The collection features a monochromatic concrete aesthetic in cool and warm tones with graphic linework in gloss, metallic or matte finishes. Coordinating Flat colors are also available to move creative applications in new directions. Daltile also collaborated with Gensler for the My City collection.

Explore the Smart City collection on the Mohawk website.

Mohawk Group believes that better floor coverings emerge from better design, innovation, sustainability, project solutions and operational excellence. Mohawk Group addresses the unique challenges and opportunities in contract interiors with a comprehensive carpet and hard-surface portfolio of all types and price points. As the commercial division of Mohawk Industries, the company has a heritage of craftsmanship that spans more than 130 years.