Lancaster, Pa.—Armstrong Commercial Flooring won top honors in the 2011 International Interior Design Association/ Hospitality Design competition (IIDA/HD), Resilient Flooring Category, for its new Spice City design series, a luxury vinyl tile in the Natural Creations collection. Winners were recognized at the Platinum Circle Gala during 2011 HDExpo held in Las Vegas. Winning products, manufacturers and designers will be published in Hospitality Design and Perspective magazines.
Now in its 15th year, the IIDA/HD award is renowned for recognizing designers and manufacturers for excellence in product design, with an emphasis on innovation, function and aesthetic advancements in the hospitality industry.
“The number one reason people select our floors is because they like how they look, and the feeling they lend to a space,” said Julia Pierce, Marketing & Design Director, Armstrong Commercial Floor Products. “This award is an honor, and helps to validate our new wave of design thinking, which is driven by listening and directly responding to our customers.”
The award-winning Spice City series, new to the Mystix collection, offers three coordinating patterns in five colors. Inspired by global design influences, it combines a textile feel with unique visual patterns and easy maintenance. Morocco is a linen inspired visual offered in a range of neutral colors; Casablanca is a damask-like visual, and Marrakech offers an offset border stripe in a graphic pattern. Coordinated patterns are designed to link different interior spaces within a facility.
“The design of Casablanca was inspired by the iconic designs of Moroccan architecture and can be used as an accent with the coordinating pattern in the Spice City collection, or used as an overall,” said Di Anna Borders, Armstrong designer. “Marrakech was inspired by simplicity in form with a modern twist; I wanted to give the option for a limitless border. For a more subtle effect, Morocco can be used as a clean texture.”
Entries in the IIDA/HD Product Design Competition were judged by a panel of four industry experts. This 2011 elite panel included Viveca Bissonnette, FIDA, Assoc. AIA, CID, LEED AP, Hollander design Group, San Diego, CA; Rick Marencic, IIDA, Daroff Design, Inc., Philadelphia, PA; Anne-Marie Gianoudis, IIDA, Gresham Smith & Partners, Birmingham, AL; Felice Silverman, IIDA, Silverman Trykowski Associates, Boston, MA.
“Flooring design directly influences the marketability and tenor of a space. There are two flooring influences in design that we are keenly aware of to help best create and maintain the value of properties for the future: ‘Sustainable Building’ and the ‘Hospitality Look’ – awareness toward making one feel more comfortable in their environment,” said Laura Gemperline, Armstrong designer. “This award represents a major step to design leadership since hospitality design influences virtually every other segment.”