How do we really know what might constitute a ‘green’ or sustainable product or material? Ecolabels and certifications have certainly helped with decision-making, but they don’t necessarily tell the back-story that sometimes holds deeper social and cultural relevance.

Architects and designers have developed a more sophisticated approach to what constitutes product sustainability over the last decade, all of which contributes to creating buildings, spaces and products with a reduce environmental footprint. This also extends to underfoot products, be they modular carpet tiles, broadloom carpets or resilient floor covering.

Spaces of today and tomorrow no longer serve a single purpose. They reflect the people who occupy them and the activities that take place within them. As the needs of communities change, both locally and globally, communal spaces are becoming more fluid and flexible, more layered and diverse. Shaw Contract’s latest collection “Community” embraces these shifts – it’s a multi-platform collection with a versatile suite of solutions to bring context and intention to each area within a space.

Community is a collection of four complementary flooring products designed to layer and integrate with one another, lending themselves to a variety of flooring solutions. The ensemble brings together textured and plush carpet tiles, sophisticated broadloom, and hard surface in wood and abstract visuals. The collection’s rich diversity and strong visual impact come from the surprising interplay of organic lines and shapes, their imperfections coming together and drawing apart in seemingly random ways.

To gain a deeper understanding of the thread of community from modern iterations back to its purest inceptions, the Shaw Contract design team travelled to the heart of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, where artisan communities have practiced their crafts for millennia. Working side by side with women in the local cooperatives, the team explored the strength of tradition and the trust of process. The result is Community: a collective of products with colours and patterns that honour the heritage of community, and awaken our sense of kinship.

Community carpet tiles are Cradle to Cradle certified Silver and use Eco Solution Q® fibre. All carpet tiles feature EcoWorx® backing, which is certified with the highest level of GECA certification and a Green Star ‘Level A’ product rating according to the Green Building Council of Australia. EcoWorx® carpet tiles are 100% PVC and bitumen free and are backed with an environmental guarantee for reclamation and recycling.

Companies that take sustainability seriously tend to stand out for a variety of reasons. It goes beyond glossy annual sustainability reports and well-funded PR activities. It is the deeper attention to social and cultural factors that intersect with environmental performance and commercial objectives, that underscores progressive producers and suppliers. Shaw Contract is one of those companies

For more information visit Shaw Contract.