Warren and Mahoney’s design team were looking for a biophilic carpet design for Langlands Hotel, Invercargill to evoke a lakeside experience — a view into the shallow waters where reeds and grasses at the shore’s edge gently move to reveal pebbles shifting under softly lapping waves. Heritage Carpets was commissioned to deliver custom carpet throughout the Langlands Hotel, as well as a custom feature rug for reception. Heritage has credentials in supplying quality carpet solutions in New Zealand since 2007, and has supplied multiple hotels nationwide including the Novotel Christchurch with Warren and Mahoney.

The product

Heritage co-designed and supplied custom Axminster carpets in durable solution-dyed nylon for all carpeted areas of the hotel including accessways, meeting spaces and rooms. Axminster Carpet is a robust woven carpet resulting from a specific manufacturing process. It is used in hotels and public spaces around the world and has its roots in Devon, England in 1755. Heritage supported the design process from the concept stage, through the design phase and into production and delivery on-site.

The challenge

The key challenge for this project was creating the bubble, reed and pebble look to interpret the designer’s intent, and translating that into carpet. Multiple design revisions before sampling reduced sample revisions to only one.

The creative process

Undeveloped sketches were supplied as a concept and collaboration between the designer and Umesh (owner of Heritage Carpets and Head of Sales and Design) evolved the design into the representation of the designer’s ideas.

The result is a pattern that interprets what you can see through the lapping water at a lake’s edge. Leaving room for interpretation, the finished design is based on reeds, grasses, pebbles and bubbles, shifting gently under shallow water, all in hues of blue.

The designs

Patterns are fitted to each room size and configuration throughout the Langlands Hotel.

Corridors complement the rooms with ‘reeds’ reaching into the blue of the lake, while rooms fade out from the edge to achieve a seamless border effect, into a watery centre.

Suites are in multiple designs. Where rooms flow into more than one area — think bedroom to living space — the carpet design continues seamlessly from room to room, expanding the pattern rather than repeating it.

The foyer rug was a custom wool round, 3.5 metres across, in a contrasting palette of browns and golden tones.

The result

A unique interior that Langlands Hotel is delighted with; they consistently receive excellent feedback from guests and visitors on the stunning carpets.

A behind the scenes look at the process: 

The process

1. Designs are finalised
2. Produce a “flood-in” showing the design in place in rooms and corridors.
3. Review and look for anomalies, such as how to address flow to create a seamless result between spaces or in irregularly shaped areas.
4. Alter the design to address the anomalies. For example:
   1. Conference room and corridors have recesses, which didn’t fit the rectangular pattern, so the blue tone was deepened into the recess
   2. Addressing turns in corners to continue the pattern
   3. In suites with more than one room or adjoining spaces, create a design that flows between spaces, treating this as one space rather than two rooms
5. Produce layouts for sign-off from the designer
6. Production
7. Delivery

The timeline

Initial contact from designers with Heritage Carpets was in late 2018, requesting budgets for custom designs. This progressed through 2019 as the designs were developed. By late 2019 the rug designs were underway.

Pricing was arranged in mid-2020 and the flooring was ordered in early 2021 and installed in late 2021. The hotel opening was delayed through Covid, but extremely well received upon throwing open the doors in 2022.