The idea: Making flooring the hero

Designing the head office for outdoor products manufacturer Riverlea, Sarah Langford of Interior Creative drew inspiration from the nearby Waikato River to create a standout floor using BLOQ Grain carpet tiles from Advance Flooring.

"When I’m designing an interior, I like to highlight either the ceiling or the floor," says Sarah. "For Riverlea, the colours and texture of Grain carpet tiles allowed me to really make the floor the hero."

The design: Reinforcing the brand by bringing the outdoors in

Riverlea produces an upmarket range of outdoor products and equipment, and the brief to Sarah was to ‘bring the outside in’ to complement their brand.

"They wanted to create an inviting place that attracts and retains staff, is flexible for future growth, and features a modern, enduring design that wouldn't date quickly — something elegant and classy," Sarah explains.

With the Waikato River already referenced in their name, Sarah selected Grain carpet tiles in a mixture of Iron, Walnut, Sea and Shadow to bring her vision to life.

"The blue Sea tiles were cut with a flowing edge to evoke the river weaving through the upstairs area. This design flows around the meeting spaces and defines more collaborative zones. The lighter Iron colour connects the spaces, while the mixture of blue tones creates quieter eddy zones. For the downstairs boardroom, I used the Walnut colour to add sophistication."

The outcome: Aesthetics and performance come together perfectly

Grain carpet tiles feature a durable tufted loop pile and an elongated 1000 x 250mm plank format, offering versatile installation options. For Sarah, this combination provided the ideal medium to make the floor the centrepiece of Riverlea’s office.

"I was thrilled with how it turned out," she says. "The tiles had all the qualities and character that I was looking for. All Advance Flooring products are practical and hardwearing, and the Grain collection is visually perfect for this project. The soft linear directional pattern adds a subtle duotone effect, which is quite practical because it effectively conceals stains or dirt."